Therapy gives the glums the elbow

Activities are explored in a new therapy that eases people out of depression, Holly Reid reports
Climbing out of bed is a struggle everyone faces, but that's nothing compared three months stuck in your bedroom.
For a North Shore man, his experience of depression was bad enough to want others to know about the relatively unknown treatment of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT).
Mike (who doesn't want his real name used), says he battled through his first bout of depression on antidepressants, then suffered a second episode.
``For some reason, everything got on top of me. I wasn't sure why and didn't really look for any answers but I wasn't interested in anything.''
He decided to try the therapy after meeting Dr Nikolaos Kazantzis, who has led a successful New Zealand CBT research team for the past 10 years.
After several months, Mike says the skills he learnt helped him plan each day and he recommends the treatment to anyone feeling depressed.
``I think if I had therapy the first time around, I'd have the skills to prevent it happening again.'' Aucklanders, aged 18-65, facing depression for the first time can get free CBT treatment for 18 weeks from Dr Kazantzis, in a year-long study he's launched at Massey Albany University into the therapy.
With a research tea, Dr Kazantzis will investigate how the therapy works and what prevents people from having a recurring episode.
``We know this is an effective therapy, but we don't really have enough evidence on which processes can be most helpful for different people.
"CBT really stacks up against the other forms of treatment, particularly for mild to moderate depression, but the availability of CBT locally is quite limited,'' says Nikolaos.
It is widely used in North American and Britain, and has been recognised by the American Psychological Association, National Health Service in Britain, and the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists' as an effective treatment for depression.
``Massey is the only university throughout Australasia that offers a post-grad diploma in CBT training. There has been a lot of research done overseas but this is the first treatment outcome study we've done in Auckland.''
The therapy involves one-on-one sessions in which people explore activity-orientated techniques as a practical way of changing their moods.
WHO'S AFFECTED The overall risk is one in four for women and one in 10 for men. It hits most in their mid-20s, and is common from 25-45 years. Symptoms range from feeling down, anxiety and sleeping problems to psychosis and loss of reality. 70-80 per cent recover with treatment, and 50 per cent suffer only one episode. The risk is three times higher if a relative has had depression.
Info, see www.depression. org.nz or ph depression helpline 0800 111 757. To find out about the Massey study contact Nicole Backhouse-Smith at 414 0800, ext 41252. Source: Ministry of Health