Alternative Treatments
Exploring Alternative Treatments: Embark on a journey through alternative treatments in the realm of psychology, where we delve into unconventional approaches to enhance well-being. Discover innovative techniques that can complement traditional psychological methods. Join us in exploring these distinct paths to psychological wellness and understanding their potential benefits.
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Maximize Brain Power and Memory with Aerobic Exercise
Two previous posts have reviewed studies of the beneficial effects of exercise for depressed adults and adolescents. New research shows that aerobic exercise may even reverse memory loss in the aging brain. The hippocampus, located in the brain’s temporal lobe, is associated with memory. It is instrumental in storing long-term memories. As we age, the…
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Empowering Depressed Adolescents: The Transformative Role of Exercise
While there are well-established treatment options for depressed adolescents, these treatments often come with significant costs or drawbacks. Anti-depressants have side effects, including “weight gain, sleep disturbance, and reproductive dysfunction” whereas psychotherapy “is associated with perceived stigma for attending the therapist” (p. 2). By comparison, exercise has been proven to reduce depression in adults in…
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Lavender: An Over-the-Counter Treatment for Depression
Its effects on anxiety are already well-established—does it also help with depression? Lavender was the topic of a previous post about alternative treatments for anxiety and depression. That post summarized randomized controlled trials testing the use of lavender in various forms (tea, massage oil, pill, and inhalation) to reduce anxiety and depression symptoms. In another…
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Can Lavender Treat Anxiety and Depression? The Shocking Results!
With a large segment of the population suffering from depression, anxiety, or both, treatment options continue to grow. Alternative treatments, especially non-invasive ones, are of particular interest to researchers and patients. The effectiveness of alternative treatments, as well as side effects and length of treatment, continue to be explored in clinical settings. Kim and colleagues…
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Can You Exercise Your Way Out of Depression?
When a person becomes clinically depressed, the typical treatment is to prescribe anti-depressants to provide short-term symptom relief and to enroll the patient in psychotherapy to address the underlying issues that cause depression. However, prescribed medications can have unpleasant side effects, and psychotherapy can be expensive and takes time to get results. For these reasons,…
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Bullet Summary: tDCS for Depression
Updated Aug 2023©Jennie Dilworth, Ph.D HISTORY DESIRABILITY TREATMENT EFFECTIVENESS: CLINIC/DOCTOR SUPERVISED* (Meta-analyses published after 2019) *Note: meta-analyses referenced here have different foci but may include some of the same studies. TREATMENT EFFECTIVENESS: HOME-BASED DEVICES PROTOCOLS Sources: Aparicio, L. V. M., Rosa, V., Razza, L. M., Sampaio-Junior, B., Borione, L., Valiengo, L., Lotufo, P. A., Besenor,…