Online Therapy has become quite common these days as it is so convenient and accessible for a wide variety of people. Mental health issues are prevalent in today’s world as lifestyle has become complicated and amongst all the mental health problems, depression is a common one. Worldwide, depression is the most prevalent disorder and an estimated 5% of adults suffer from depression.
Majority of the depression cases leads to suicide so it is really important to treat it properly. Thus, the rate of people who are seeking online therapy for the treatment of depression is quite high and there are a number of reasons for that also. So, first let’s understand what depression is and then how it gets treated in online therapy.
What is Depression?
Depression involves extraordinary sadness and negative thoughts and emotions. People who have experienced adverse events in their life or due to genetics, they develop depression. It can turn into dysfunction and affect life negatively. According to DSM-5, when a person experiences any 5 or more of the following symptoms for 2 weeks period then he/she can be diagnosed with depression. Symptoms are:
- Depressed mood most of the day like feeling sad and upset
- Diminished lack of interest
- Significant loss or gain of weight
- Insomnia or hypersomnia
- Psychomotor Agitation
- Fatigue
- Worthlessness or excessive guilt
- Lack of ability to think or concentrate
- Recurrent feelings of death
- Distress in personal, social and professional aspects of life
How does online therapy help to treat depression?
As understood earlier, people with depression feel hopeless empty, worthless and helpless. Thus, online therapy comes to their rescue as in this approach of therapy, there is no need for the client to go to the therapist’s office and do the efforts which can be challenging for the clients with depression.
So, having online therapy instead of offline therapy is really beneficial for the clients with depression. Also, in online therapy various approaches of different therapies are used like medication therapy, cognitive-behaviour therapy, interpersonal therapy and many others. But the most widely used one is cognitive-behaviour therapy as according to researches, this therapy has shown more significant positive results than other therapies available online.
Most of the symptoms of depression are psychological and their root cause is irrational and illogical thought pattern which can be corrected in cognitive-behaviour therapy. Having online cognitive-behaviour therapy is very effective as it allows personal space to the client and simultaneously feels comfortable in the online setting. The therapist also gives homework and uses various mental strategies with the client with depression for better health outcomes.
According to a 2020 study during covid lockdown, it was found out that clients with depression felt more good, comfortable and safe in online therapy setting rather than offline therapy setting. And it is also obvious because depression restricts the person to do much work and online therapy setting aligns with it at first but later on therapist makes the person engage in various activities and movements for their benefit.
Therapist primarily focuses on reducing negativity, change irrational and illogical thought pattern, improve positivity and lower the overall symptoms of depression. And all of this becomes possible as various psychological strategies are used like positive and negative reinforcement, changing negative cognitive triad and evaluation of the client’s base facts about depression. Lewinsohn and colleagues (2001) did a study and showed that people with depression have a high rate of dysfunctional beliefs than people who are not depressed.
And these dysfunctional beliefs can easily be managed in online therapy when the therapist provides a non-judgmental, free, comfortable and safe space to the client which sometimes is not possible in face to face offline therapy sessions.
As mentioned earlier, depression is a very common mental health issue these days and many people are suffering from it. But many people in far areas who can’t travel for offline therapy sessions can easily take online therapy sessions at their home.
Also, besides lowering the symptoms of depression and increasing positivity, therapist also focuses on improving quality of life while helping the clients manage their social, personal and professional aspects of life. And this can be easily done by clients while having online therapy as they can manage their time well.
Also, online therapy for depression may help to:
- Adjust to a difficult situation or a crisis
- Identify negative emotions and thoughts and replace them with positive ones
- Explore and develop good quality relations with others
- Develop coping skills
- Develop a sense of control in life
- Gain ability to tolerate distress
Visit Medavas to seek online therapy for depression
If you feel that you need guidance and support from a psychological professional but at your own convenience at home then online therapy is the best decision for you. You can book the session with the therapist at the comfort of your own home. At Medavas, you can have online therapy via any mode like audio telephonic mode, video calls, emails or instant messaging.
Online therapy has a major advantage of choosing from a wide range of therapists available online and thus you can make an informed decision by reading their profiles, researching about it and then choosing the right therapist for you. At Medavas, several therapists trained in various kinds of therapy are available who have been providing the best online therapy sessions to a wide variety of people. So, quickly book your appointment with us at Medavas.
Frequently Asked Questions for Online Therapy for Depression
Is online therapy for depression really effective?
According to a recent study, clients who took online therapy for depression were much less likely to relapse into depression than who clients who took usual offline therapy. For clients with depression, online family therapy and online marriage therapy is also given which has greater satisfaction levels.
Why therapy is actually required to treat depression?
A proper psychological treatment can help to relieve the symptoms of depression and avoid the relapse of the symptoms which prevents the situation getting even worse than earlier. Although medications are sometimes necessary but therapy helps a lot in improving the condition of a depressed client.
What is Online Interpersonal Therapy?
Online interpersonal therapy focuses on client’s current relationship issues and helps the client to understand and change the maladaptive interaction patterns. It is very effective to avoid relapse of the depressive symptoms of the client.