Treatment Pathway
Treatment choice will be based upon what is recommended for the type and severity of the problem you are experiencing and your personal preference. However, this usually involves a combination of self-help, psychological therapy and in some cases antidepressant medicine.
If you cannot afford to meet the costs of private therapy, your doctor can refer you for talking treatment or you can refer yourself directly to an NHS talking therapies service.
Mild depression/anxiety disorders
If your doctor diagnoses you with mild depression or anxiety disorder, they may recommend the following treatments:
Watchful waiting
Your doctor may suggest waiting a short time to see if it the mood gets better by itself. In this case, you’ll be seen again by your doctor after 2 weeks to monitor your progress.
Exercise
There’s evidence that exercise can help improve mental health and it’s one of the main treatments for mild depression. Exercise comes in lots of different forms and doesn’t necessarily mean going to the gym for a workout! You may be referred to a group exercise class, encouraged to go walking, swimming or venture into a new sporty activity.
Self-help
Just talking through your feelings can be helpful. You could talk to a relative or friend you trust or find any self-help groups in your area. There are also plenty of self-help books available, as well as free websites or online courses to work through in your own time.
Mild to moderate depression/anxiety disorders
If you have mild to moderate depression or anxiety disorder that is not improving, Reflections offers cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), counselling and eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing (EMDR).
There is strong evidence from research to suggest that CBT is particularly helpful in treating common difficulties such as depression and anxiety and is the recommended treatment with Nice Guidelines. For mild presentations, there are also plenty of CBT-based self-help books available, as well as free websites about CBT techniques or online courses to work through in your own time. However, evidence shows that using them can work better when supported from a therapist, especially for low mood. Find out more about CBT
Counselling may be recommended if you are struggling with grief/loss, have a general low mood but do not consider yourself depressed or you just feel you need someone independent to talk too. Find out more about Counselling
EMDR may be recommended as an alternative way of working. EMDR is an eight phase non talking treatment which is often used for trauma presentations such as abuse, road traffic accidents or personal injury. Find out more about EMDR
Moderate to severe depression/anxiety disorders
If you have moderate to severe depression or anxiety disorder that is not improving, the following treatments may be recommended:
Medication
Antidepressants are medicines that treat the symptoms of depression and anxiety disorders. They can only be prescribed by a doctor or psychiatrist and should not be stopped without the guidance of the prescriber. Find out more about Antidepressants
Combination therapy
For some people, a combination of CBT, counselling or EMDR and antidepressant medication is a preferable course of action and can often work better than having just one of these treatments alone.
Mental health teams
In cases of extremely severe mental health difficulties or where you have undertaken the talking therapies without any improvement in your mental health, you may be referred to a mental health team to help you get back on track. These are made up of psychologists, psychiatrists, specialist nurses and occupational therapists. These teams often provide intensive specialist talking treatments alongside any prescribed medication.