Facts About Depression

Why Understanding 3 Basic Facts About Depression Can Stop You From Wasting Money If You're a Child Abuse Survivor

Have you ever walked out of a movie you didn't like? Maybe you found yourself saying "if only I had asked around or checked out some reviews, I could have saved my money for something better." For the price of today's movie ticket, you could have bought yourself a cheap book from Amazon.com or some singles off iTunes.

 

That's why you need to understand 3 basic facts about depression if you're recovering from child abuse.

Yup, that's right, just 3. If you knew these 3 basic facts about depression, you could understand what you're going through a little better. You could do things to help yourself that would be more specifically targeted toward the underlying causes of your depression. Most importantly, knowing these 3 basic facts can help save you money over the long run.

 

Fact #1: The underlying cause for depression in child abuse survivors is the unhealed trauma resulting from child abuse.

Yes, there's a chance that genetic factors play a role in your depression. In most cases, if there's a genetic component, it's not the sole culprit. In fact, many independent, peer-reviewed journal studies show that there is a strong association between child abuse and depression^1,2. Repeated childhood trauma leads to unresolved grief and psychological wounds.

These wounds remain open until you do some healing work (typically with a trained counseling professional) and begin to resolve your trauma. Working with a psychologist or other mental health professional by sharing what happened to you in a safe environment begins the healing process. At that point, the underlying cause for your depression is being dealt with.

 

Fact #2: Antidepressant drugs do work, but not by much.

While it's true that in selected instances antidepressants can be life saving, recent studies aimed at getting the facts about depression have shown antidepressant drugs to be only more effective than placebo by a few percentage points³. For most people, antidepressants are probably not more effective than a placebo.

The fact of the matter is that for child abuse survivors with unresolved grief, treating them with drugs only merely treats the symptoms and not the underlying cause. The childhood trauma you suffered from can have all kinds of effects in your life, ranging from PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) to a reduced social network. It's having the simple things in life, such as a network of solid emotional support, that often protect against depression. (Editor's note: That's why I wrote my e-book, All You Need Is One. It's a step-by-step guide that teaches child abuse survivors how to make friends using a systematic and encouraging approach. It's a learnable skill that you can acquire.)

 

Plus, antidepressants cost money...

Even generic antidepressants can range in cost from $39 to $74 a month⁴. Now taking a pill MAY make you feel better in the short run, but it will not help with any of your underlying emotional causes that require therapeutic support. That's why it's important you understand Fact #1.

In addition, if you take drugs without dealing with the real emotional causes you're simply spending your money to mask the "symptoms of the disease" rather than "treating the disease." You end up wasting money on drugs in the short-run when spending money on sessions with a therapist over a longer period of time may actually be more effective in beating depression permanently.

 

Fact #3: There is no one-size fits approach for depression, but you can find an effective approach for yourself.

If you want to alleviate your depression over the long run, all evidence regarding the facts about depression indicates dealing with the unresolved emotional trauma is the most effective solution if you're recovering from abuse. At this point in your life, you may also have to deal with several other contributing factors of depression due to the spillover effects from the abuse. For instance, besides unresolved childhood trauma, a recent big change in your life (i.e., divorce, loss of job, moving, a conflict-riddled relationship), excessive drug use (i.e., alcohol or other psychoactive drugs), certain prescription drugs (such as oral contraceptives), and a devastating physical illness can contribute to depression.

The good news is many of the things you can do to help with depression are free and/or low cost when compared with letting depression continue to linger in your life. For instance, establishing a regular program of exercise, creating a positive environment, quitting smoking and/or illegal drug use, and developing a solid base of emotional support via friends and/or a therapist can help alleviate depression. If you've been abused, a prolonged therapy regimen where you can heal your trauma in a safe environment will help deal with repressed anger, shame, and other psychological issues.

 

There you have it, 3 basic depression facts to help you spend your money effectively.

• If you've been abused, the unresolved wounds from the abuse are the underlying cause of your depression.
• Antidepressant drugs work, but they aren't much more effective than a placebo according to recent studies. Plus, they typically cost a lot of money.
• There's no one-size fits all approach to depression, but dealing with whatever the underlying emotional cause is one of the most effective ways to alleviate your depression if you're recovering from abuse.

So before you shell out your hard-earned money for a particular type of treatment, understand these 3 basic facts about depression. It can save you money and help you be more effective in treating your depression. Hopefully with the extra money you saved, you can go check out a movie you like.

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