Norfolk counsellor welcomes advice to offer exercise and therapy before medication
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence says therapy and exercise should be offered to treat mild depression ahead of medication
A counsellor from South Norfolk has welcomed advice that those suffering with mild depression should be prescribed with exercise or therapy before medication.
This recommendation comes from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence after it was revealed that 20 million people had been prescribed with anti-depressants in just three months last year.
While it's estimated that one in seven people in England taking them.
Ruth Noble runs her own counselling business in Diss.
She told us that it's vital to tackle the issue at source:
"Having conversations about what they think may have caused the depression and talking about the context of the persons life, alongside a broader look at depression, what it looks like and how it affects people is far better than a narrow medical model of, there's something wrong with you here's a drug that will make it better".
She went on to say that medication isn't always the best form of treatment:
"Therapy is going to be great for any form of depression. Talking about your problems and trying to get to the bottom of what's going on for you, finding somebody who's going to help you understand your thought patterns and sift through all the emotional stuff. That's going to be really helpful".
Ms Noble also explained why talking is so important:
"To know what we are not alone and not the only one going through this, can be really helpful. Through a group therapy setting talking and sharing with other people in a similar situation can lead to us learning something from them and them learning something from us".
She concluded by saying its vital that people can have a say in how they are cared for:
"Getting a patient involved in choosing their treatment plan and asking what might work for them is so important. As we know that one way doesn't work for everyone, we're all unique and plans need to be tailored accordingly. So I'm really glad to see that this is now part of the conversation".