Kathy Hurt
Community Impact Director The Florida House Experience
505 South Federal Highway
Deerfield Beach,
Florida 33441
(866) 580-4867
Across the United States, depression is one of the most common and often undiagnosed mental health problems. Over 16 million people, or about 6.7% of the country, is affected by different kinds of depression. Some of the sources include early life trauma, loss, and biological deficits in “feel good” neurotransmitters (such as dopamine and serotonin). Depression symptoms are unique and vary from person to person. Common symptoms of depression may include the following: changes in sleep and/or appetite, loss of energy and/or, interest in activities, feelings of overwhelm, crying spells, attention and focus problems, self-image problems, withdrawal, and others.
Wealthier individuals may actually be even more susceptible to depressive symptoms. Sometimes when a person has grown up with affluence, they don’t have the skills to weather difficult times, and struggle to manage adversity. Even if they accomplish lifelong goals, they may still feel internally empty and unsatisfied. Sometimes when these highly successful people reach important milestones, depression is more common because they are forced to reassess their values.
Traditionally, medication has been used to treat depression. However, many kinds of depression are resistant to medication – in fact, only about 1/3 of individuals respond well to medication treatment for depression. However, there is a much more effective and safer treatment for depression called Neurotherapy. During this therapy, a medical professional creates a map of your brain (quantitative electroencephalography, or qEEG) to determine how unique depressive symptoms appear in your brainwaves. Once the expression of the individual’s depressive symptoms is identified, Neurotherapy can successfully treat the origin of these symptoms. By altering the physiology of the depression, the depressive symptoms often follow, resulting in lasting improvements in overall functioning and quality of life.