This essay describes depression and the various ways that it has been treated throughout the years. Statistics show that most people who have had severe depression in their life have a 50-80% chance of it returning. The side effects of modern drugs used to treat various diseases are extremely unpleasant. Research shows depression treated with psychotherapy does not prove to be very successful. It is also very hard to assess the effectiveness of psychotherapy and many people are rarely cured from depression.
Homeopathy offers a safer, viable alternative to psychotherapy and drug treatment. It has no side effects and cures on a deeper level, preventing the patient from having a relapse later on. If it works, the effect is a long term curative one. If not, the palliative effect it creates is not harmful in any way. In this essay, the basic principles and method of treatment of homeopathy are discussed to try and enlighten the reader with an alternative form of healing.
Homeopathy has become increasingly popular throughout the world because of the success rate it has with patients suffering from all kinds of diseases. I was inspired to write this paper because as the daughter of two homeopaths, I am able to see the terrible side effects that drugs have on patients, and am also there to see the majority of my parents’ patients cured by homeopathy. A case can be made for the use of homeopathy in the treatment of depression because of the success it has in doing so compared to that of modern psychotherapy.
Modern psychological and psychiatric treatment of depression often involves chemical solutions to psychological problems which may or often may not be very effective, in addition to causing unpleasant side-effects including addiction to the substances themselves. Homeopathy, an alternative medical system recognised by the National Health Service in Britain, seems to provide a viable and safer alternative to conventional treatment.
Modern clinical psychology can be defined as the “scientific study of behaviour and mental processes”1. Nowadays, psychologists believe that mental disorders largely have physical causes resulting in physical, i.e. chemical treatments, in addition to what we know as classic psychotherapy. This concept is rooted in ancient medicine, Hippocrates being one of the first to propose that psychological problems have physical causes2.
Depression and its causes:
Mood disorders such as depression are quite common in modern society among humans. “Depressive disorders are relatively common, with about 17% of people having an episode of severe depression at some time in their lives”1.1. Depression is a disorder that can be equated with such physical illnesses such as diabetes, ulcers, high blood pressure. Treatments range from psychological therapies to medication (www.mdu.unsw.edu.au). People might experience mild depression when they have to deal with too much stress at work or at home, or lose a loved one and it depends on the person and the way in which they deal with a certain situation.
People who experience physical or mental abuse, divorces, living in poverty are more likely to experience a depressive episode during their lives. It is when these symptoms become persistent and interfere with the normal functioning of one’s life, that a patient should seek help. Whatever this help may be, the most important thing from the point of view of the practitioner and from that of the patient is that the therapy should “first, do no harm” (Hippocrates).
The purpose of this essay is to try and persuade to the reader that there is a viable, safer alternative to treating depression instead of having to deal with the frequent unreliability of current treatments and the harmful side effects of drug therapy. It is for example estimated that “Nearly two-thirds of the 11 million people who experience depression each year around the world do not receive appropriate treatment because their symptoms are not recognized, are blamed on a personal weakness, or the symptoms are so disabling that people cannot reach out for help or are misdiagnosed and wrongly treated” (www.mdu.unsw.edu.au). The problems of diagnosis are therefore widespread and clearly hinder effective treatment. People are suffering unnecessarily with the present state of affairs.
As an alternative therapy, treatment with homeopathy can offer hope of preventing symptoms from remaining “unrecognized”, as they often are in conventional treatment. In homeopathy each symptom of a patient is seen as part of a bigger picture, and the big picture is what is treated. I intend to argue that, when it works, homeopathy is curative in the long run and when it does not, the palliative effect is not harmful in any way. According to some of the statistics cited below, if one is treated with homeopathy, the chances of the patient having a relapse of depression are much less.