Consider the following scenario: You’ve
been feeling pretty low lately. When you wake up, it’s
an effort just to drag yourself out of bed. If that isn’t
bad enough, everyone is counting on you — your kids,
your unemployed best friend, your elderly mother — but
how will you summon the strength?
If your dark mood lasts for more than two weeks and makes
you want to withdraw from the world, you may have depression.
But as bad as things might seem, there’s hope. Depression
is treatable, and quality care is available right here, in
your own community. “We have a number of doctors, nurses
and therapists who have worked in the mental health field
for over 20 years, so the level of experience here is pretty
unsurpassed,” says Tom Bonas, Ph.D., administrative
director of Behavioral Health Services at Alta Bates Summit
Medical Center.
“One out of four people will experience depression
at some point during their lifetime, and it’s a shame
when people don’t receive the care they need,” says
Lisa Frank, M.D., medical director of Geriatric Psychiatry
Services at Alta Bates Summit. “With treatment, they
can return to the life that they previously enjoyed and be
the people they’d like to be.”
The skilled Alta Bates
Summit team cares about each patient and values an open,
collaborative approach. Efforts are also made to reach out
to family members, who are often invited to attend meetings
with the patient and staff. “We
treat each person holistically — not just as a person
with a mental illness, but as a person who has a life,” says
Dr. Frank. “And we want to help that person get back
to their life.”
Sometimes a specific event
brings on depression, but in other cases, it just happens.
With more than 60 years of experience, Alta Bates Summit
offers a full continuum of personalized care designed to
defeat depression. Patients are referred to a psychiatrist,
psychologist, psychotherapist or a licensed clinical social
worker — whichever is appropriate — who
can develop an effective treatment plan.
In many cases, psychotherapy
(talk therapy) and antidepressant medication can pull someone
out of depression. Psychotherapy may be brief — often
just a few weeks — and patients
are typically given one medication that may take effect within
two to six weeks. “There’s a lot of good science
supporting that combination, which has the best outcomes
for overall improvement in day-to-day functioning,” says
Dr. Bonas. For those who are not only depressed but also
care for others, Alta Bates Summit offers support groups
for caregivers.
When various sorts of talk therapy and medication aren’t
effective, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) may help. This
therapy, in which electrical currents are passed through
the brain, is done using general anesthesia and can be extremely
effective. Having been refined in recent decades, ECT is
more sophisticated and much safer than ECT treatments of
the 1950s. “It’s a highly regarded treatment
that can be lifesaving,” says Dr. Frank. “Usually,
you have a course of treatment over a few weeks.”
For those needing more
support, Alta Bates Summit Medical Center offers a partial
hospitalization program, in which patients visit the hospital’s
Herrick Campus for six to seven hours each day and return
home at night. This outpatient program, which involves group
therapy and meetings with a psychiatrist, lasts from two
to six weeks, depending on the patient’s needs. “Patients
participate in behavioral therapy groups, skills-based training,
relaxation groups, art therapy and drama therapy,” says
Dr. Frank. “They’re
typically placed in groups with people who have similar disorders
and get a great deal of support.” For patients who
can’t function on an outpatient basis, inpatient care — also
at the Herrick Campus — is available.
