Although depression is a worldwide epidemic, the various drugs used to treat it don’t work well or come with a load of side effects. Cate Montana reports on a new non-drug way to stimulate healing

We are a sad species. According to the World Health Organization, major depressive disorder (MDD) is the most common of all psychiatric disorders, affecting nearly 322 million people globally. It’s a chronic condition that is usually episodic— coming and going over the course of a lifetime, with episodes lasting from two weeks to several months or more at a time.

Stressful events such as the death of a loved one, divorce, a traumatic event such as a sexual attack or a sudden loss of income can cause both temporary and ongoing clinical depression. But childhood abuse has been highlighted as clearly related to the development of major depressive episodes later in life.

Changes in brain chemistry, such as a decrease in neurotransmitter production; a drop in serotonin, dopamine, endorphins or oxytocin levels (the happy hormones); and a general decrease in metabolism or blood flow in several areas of the brain are also directly related. But whether these biochemical imbalances and reductions in metabolic function are triggered by events, happen independently or both is uncertain.

“There’s increasing understanding that depression is not a monolith, that there are different subtypes of depression,” says Dr Colleen Hanlon, a neuroscientist and vice president of medical affairs with Brains Way (brainsway.com), a company that develops noninvasive neurostimulation techniques to treat mental and cognitive health disorders.

“This is perhaps the reason some people respond to one type of therapy and others respond differently or not at all. It’s like little mini diseases in there.

“Some people have an hedonic depression and tend to sleep more and eat more, and they don’t get excited. They don’t get sad. They’re just kind of low, versus a more anxious type of depression that often looks like anxiety to the untrained eye. These are people that sleep less and eat less and are a little more activated.”

MDD has traditionally been treated with psychotherapy accompanied by the prescription of tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs), selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and serotoninnorepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs)—all different kinds of antidepressant medications that are also used to treat anxiety disorders, social phobia, chronic neuropathic pain and other issues.1

Studies suggest the more severe the depression, the greater the benefits of antidepressant medications, but they also show that antidepressants often don’t work. Some people experience depressive symptoms even after trying several different medications.

And the statistics paint a gloomy picture. Anywhere between 10 and 30 percent of patients suffering from

MDD do not improve or only partially improve by following the traditional treatment route.2 And many patients experience initial relief of symptoms only to have the medication they’re on gradually lose efficacy. Approximately 25 percent of people who take antidepressants for major depression relapse within one to two years.3

Another downside to antidepressants is that it might easily take a couple of weeks or far longer to experience any initial effects. For patients resistant to antidepressants, multi-drug experimentation may drag on for a year or more without diminishing symptoms.

Meanwhile, side effects such as drowsiness and fatigue, nausea, sexual dysfunction, weight gain, insomnia and various gastrointestinal issues are common. As well, there is an increased risk of suicide from taking these drugs.4