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Depression

Primary Care, Mental Health, and Wellness Group Practice located in West Palm Beach, FL
Depression

Depression services offered in West Palm Beach, FL

Depression is a long-term disorder where you struggle through your days and nights, battling unrelenting despair and sadness. If depression interferes with your enjoyment of life, visit board-certified psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner Martine Senatus, PMHNP-BC, FNP-BC, and her colleagues at VIP Integrative Healthcare in West Palm Beach, Florida. These experienced mental health experts offer effective treatments such as psychotherapy, medication, and ketamine therapy for patients with depression. To benefit from their care, call VIP Integrative Healthcare today or book an in-person or telemedicine appointment online.

Depression Q&A

What is depression?

Depression is a state of mind where you’re sad and low, something that often happens temporarily. However, if you have clinical depression (major depressive disorder), these feelings are considerably more intense and don’t go away.

The emotions you feel are all negative, such as self-loathing, guilt, shame, and despair. There’s nothing you can do to shake these feelings, so each day becomes an ordeal you must endure. Other symptoms of depression include:

  • Chronic fatigue
  • Difficulty concentrating
  • Trouble thinking clearly
  • Poor memory
  • Restlessness or irritability
  • Thoughts of death or suicide

You’re likely to find little or no pleasure in life, even in the activities you usually enjoy. You might sleep too much or develop insomnia. Weight loss or gain isn’t unusual, matching either a loss of appetite or an urge to eat for comfort.

Each person’s depression symptoms are unique to them, so you might have some or all of these problems and others as well.

Why do I have depression?

The root cause of depression isn’t easy to pin down. It’s likely that some people’s genetics make them more vulnerable to mental health problems.

The environment you live in or grew up in can also impact you, especially if you suffer trauma, experience poverty, or are frequently sick. Losing someone close, relationship breakdowns, and significant changes like a job loss or relocation can trigger depression.

Research indicates that people with depression typically have low levels of certain brain chemicals called neurotransmitters. These chemicals, which include dopamine and serotonin, carry signals between different parts of your brain and help with mood regulation.

It could be a drop in neurotransmitter levels that triggers depression, or depression might cause your neurotransmitters to stop functioning.  

How is depression treated?

VIP Integrative Healthcare offers compassionate talk therapies in combination with medications (where necessary) to treat depression. Drugs like selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) help to increase neurotransmitter activity and improve your mood. They can be very effective, especially for moderate to severe depression.

Talk therapy uses various approaches to ease depression. Your VIP Integrative Healthcare provider might undertake psychotherapy to help you identify and deal with traumas or experiences that could have triggered your depression. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) challenges the distorted thoughts and ideas depression creates.

If these treatments are unsuccessful, VIP Integrative Healthcare also offers ketamine therapy for treatment-resistant depression.

To get the right treatment for your depression, call VIP Integrative Healthcare today or book an in-person or telemedicine appointment online.