Services | Depression

DEPRESSED?
by Steven Vazquez, Ph.D.

Depression can cloud thinking and even interfere with the desire to seek help. If you have at least four of the following symptoms, there is a good chance that you are depressed.

• Sad or empty mood most of the day
• Loss of interest in most activities
• Significant weight gain or weight loss without dieting
• Inability to sleep well or sleeping too much
• Feeling restless or feeling slowed down
• Loss of energy, fatigue
• Feeling worthless or excessive guilt
• Recurrent thoughts of death or suicide
• A lack of ability to concentrate or think clearly

If you or someone you love is concerned about depression, it is important to learn as much as possible about the condition. Most people in treatment for depression use antidepressants, but they may not know how antidepressants work or the risks involved. They may not be aware of other forms of treatment for depression or the relationship between medical disorders and depression.

What is Depression?

Although many people describe themselves as depressed, one person’s experience may be entirely different from another’s. In the fields of psychiatry and counseling there are several different types of depression that vary according to their nature, magnitude and duration. For example, major depression is quite severe but is often characterized by specific episodes, while dysthymia is less severe but more chronic. Contrary to antidepressant commercials, psychologists, licensed professional counselors and other mental health professionals are trained to make diagnoses of depression. A good intake interview by a knowledgeable professional and sometimes psychological testing is required for a professional to make an accurate diagnosis.

Depression is Widespread

The National Institute of Mental Health reported that 9.5% of the United States population, 19 million people, is known to suffer from some form of depression. Most people who suffer from mental conditions never seek professional help; therefore, the number of depressed people is estimated to be much greater. About one in every three depressed women cope by overeating, and one in every five men cope by drinking alcohol. Marital discord is greater when one spouse is depressed. It is clear that depression has an interpersonal component. The number of depressed people is not limited to the 19 million; it only begins there. It is estimated that about forty million people in the U.S. are depressed.

A Breakthrough in Treating “Intractable” Depression

Well over 100 million prescriptions for antidepressants are taken annually in the U.S. However, antidepressants do not work for about 30% of the people who use them and a recent television advertisement claims that antidepressants are only partially successful for over 70% of it uses. Therefore, electroshock treatment is still used for severe cases of depression. More recently a type of surgery is used to implant electrodes for deep brain stimulation to stop depression. Another recent treatment is transcranial magnetic stimulation. Clearly the pharmaceutical approach has not been enough and the side effects of sexual disfunction, weight gain and a general numbness is not satisfactorily for many people. However, various forms of electromagnetic treatment have recently been developed to change brain chemistry. All of these treatments provide some benefit but their very existence suggests that more needs to be done than the current pharmaceutical efforts to resolve severe depression. A new method that uses the best of precise electromagnetic interventions without forfeiting the warmth and support of interpersonal contact is Emotional Transformation Therapy™ (ETT™).

The Electromagnetic Brain

Every neural impulse in the brain is essentially electric in nature and creates a tiny magnetic field which cumulatively results in brainwave patterns. Biochemical activities contribute to neural impulses but electromagnetic interventions also change biochemistry. For example, the brain’s biochemistry is massively altered by electroshock treatment and the new electromagnetic approaches tend to work when biochemical ones do not.

At the same time that electromagnetic approaches are being developed, scientific research in developmental psychology, cognitive science and brain science has documented massive evidence that the brain is formed largely by external influences such as interpersonal contact. We now know that certain interpersonal influence can and does change brain chemistry. Through “attachment focused” approaches, psychotherapy is enjoying a resurgence in power and speed.

Emotional Transformation Therapy™ (ETT™) combines an attachment focused interpersonal intervention with a precise electromagnetic intervention. However, instead of jolting the entire brain and nervous system as in electroshock treatment, it uses a gentle light stimulation into the eyes in which the natural photoreceptions of the eyes convert light into neural electromagnetic impulses in the brain. By selecting specific wavelengths of light at precise angles, specific emotional states can be targeted through specific neural circuits for rapid change of distress. All of this takes place while a trained therapist custom tailors interpersonal responses to each person’s interpersonal pattern. This results in the person feeling understood and supported as well as leading to a rapid conclusion of unresolved emotions.

Through this means we do not have to shock the brain but instead stimulate neural impulses through the brain’s own electrical system. This method does not require the risk of surgery or the imposition of implanting technology into the person’s body as in deep brain stimulation. However, a similar or better effect may take place. Transcranial magnetic stimulation requires weeks of daily sessions and provides little or no interpersonal support. Visual brain stimulation can target specific neural transmission effects as well as the critical interpersonal factor that we now know alters brain chemistry. Depression often occurs as a result of isolation and loneliness. Therefore, an impersonal form of treatment risks further damage in this regard regardless of how the brain is stimulated. Now consumers do not have to choose between technology and interpersonal approaches because Emotional Transformation Therapy™ (ETT™) combines both in a way that enhances both approaches.

While Emotional Transformation Therapy™ (ETT) often relieves intractable depression it can also be used for many other forms of depression. We can work with people who are currently on antidepressants or it can be used instead of using drugs. Many people do not want to take medications, so ETT™ can be used as an alternative. There are still other people who are using psychiatric medications but wish to get off of them. In many cases we can work with your doctor to help you improve and then we can collaborate with your doctor to help you appropriately withdraw from medications.

The days of endless depression are now over for more and more people. Furthermore, ETT™ treatment is extremely rapid, often eliminating depression on a long-term basis in just a few sessions. We can either help you feel again if life seems numb or joyless or we can help you reduce the intensity of overwhelming distress.

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