Some people use medications to treat their depression while others talk to therapists. However, you can also combine these two approaches into a combined treatment program.

For example, you can take anti-depressants and have sessions with a psychotherapist. What are the advantages of taking a combined approach?

1. See Faster Results

If you've decided to talk to a therapist about your depression, then you might feel better as soon as you book a session. However, you can't expect to solve all your problems quickly. Talk therapy can take a lot of time, and you might feel that you aren't making a lot of progress at the start.

This can be dispiriting. It might make you feel more depressed, and you might struggle to cope with how difficult your therapy sessions feel.

If you take medication for your depression as well, then you might find it easier to integrate into therapy. While anti-depressant drugs can take some time to work, they should ultimately take the edge off your depression and make you feel more able to talk to your therapist.

You're likely to feel like you're making more progress. If medication lightens your depression, then your head will be in a better place during your therapy.

2. Build Long-Term Resilience

Anti-depressants can help you manage your depression. However, they aren't necessarily going to cure it. They don't deal with problems such as underlying trauma; they simply deal with your symptoms.

So, if you stop taking your meds, then your depression might return. You haven't fixed your basic problem.

If you combine anti-depressant medications with some kind of therapy, then you get short-term relief and the chance to make long-term changes. You build resilience that will help you for the rest of your life.

For example, your meds will help you cope with your depression now. Once they start to work, you might feel brighter and better able to cope with life. You might feel in a good place to start therapy.

Your therapy sessions will then work on your depression and its causes. For example, your therapist might give you behavioral tips to help you cope with your depression symptoms; they will also help you work out why you get depressed.

Once you understand why you feel the way you feel, then you are in a better place to control and even eliminate your depression. This combined approach helps you cope now and heal in the future.

To find out more about the benefits of a combined treatment for depression, talk to your doctor or clinic.