Remission is the goal of treatment for depression.  When depression is treated properly, benefits can include significant symptom reduction and even remission, as well as overall improved health and quality of life.  Treatments include medication, psychotherapy, and other therapy including electroconvulsive therapy. 

Depression can be caused by a number of different factors and manifest itself in a number of different ways.  For that reason, a number of different treatment regimens are employed.  Choice of treatment will depend on a variety of factors:  the underlying cause of the depression, the severity of symptoms, the physician's recommendation and the patient's preference.  Psychotherapy, medicines and electroconvulsive therapy have all been found to be effective in treating depression.

The National Institute of Mental Health segments depression into three categories:

Major Depressive Disorder

Commonly identified by a combination of the symptoms listed above.  Symptoms interfere with one's ability to work, study, sleep, eat and enjoy once-pleasurable activities.  A major depressive episode might occur just once, but it's more likely that such episodes will occur periodically during a lifetime.  This condition could require long-term treatment.

Dysthymia

A less severe type of depression, dysthymia is marked by long-lasting or long-term symptoms that are plainly noticeable but don't seriously disable the person.  Working or functioning successfully is possible, but there are limitations including a feeling of general malaise.  Many people with dysthymia are known to experience infrequent – but serious – episodes of major depression.

Bipolar Disorder

Also known as manic depression, characterized by cyclical mood changes – extreme highs (mania) and extreme lows (depression) – but with periods of normality in between.  When in the manic cycle, a person can be overactive, talkative and have a great deal of energy.  When in the depressive cycle, the person can exhibit any of the symptoms common to depression.  Bipolar disorder often affects judgment, thinking and behavior in ways that can cause social disruptions or interpersonal difficulties.

The general classifications of treatment are:

Psychotherapies

Also referred to as the "talking" therapies, variations include Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Cognitive Psychotherapy.  In general, psychotherapies rely on interviews, discussions, question-and-answer sessions and similar "on the couch" activities.  The goal is to help patients talk through their illness and their circumstances, overcoming unwarranted fears, feelings of anxiety or inadequacy and the like.  Patients also can be trained in certain life skills that help them recognize, address and overcome aspects of their depression and lead more well-adjusted lives.

Anti-Depressants

Medicines developed to treat depression are often approached with care due to the much-documented and much-publicized side effects some of them cause.  However, the mental health community, supported by research, endorses the use of anti-depressants for their beneficial effects.  Their use, based on the particular diagnoses of particular patients, coupled with their proper utilization under risk management models, can result in highly favorable outcomes.  In some cases – primarily depression caused by neurochemical imbalance – they might be essential for a favorable outcome.  In other cases, a combination of treatments that includes these medicines will help assure the best outcome.  Usually, several weeks of treatment by medication must pass before full therapeutic effect can be measured.  The process is sometimes short-circuited by patients who halt their anti-depressant regimens due to concerns surrounding their continued use.  This undermines their benefits as well as the overall goals of treatment.

Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT)

Sometimes characterized as the most dramatic approach to curing mental illnesses, statistically ECT is the most effective treatment for depression.  Patients who have opted for ECT commonly report high satisfaction after initial doubts.  Many say the impact of the procedure is "nothing" compared to the illness it overcomes.  Some 80-90 percent of people with severe depression improve dramatically with ECT.  ECT involves producing a seizure in the brain of a patient under general anesthesia by applying electrical stimulation to the brain through electrodes placed on the scalp.  Repeated treatments are necessary to achieve the most complete anti-depressant response.  Memory loss and other cognitive problems are common yet typically short-lived side effects of ECT.  While some people report lasting difficulties, modern advances in ECT technique have greatly reduced the side effects of this treatment compared to those of earlier decades.

In all cases, decisions about treatment should be made in the most thorough and open manner, with full participation by the patient, the patient's family, the patient's doctor and the mental health experts involved – as well as input from patient advocacy groups and others as appropriate.