A person with a persistent sense of despair and hopelessness is an indicating sign of major depression, which may also be referred to as clinical depression. I would inform my cousin of the disturbing symptoms brought about by major depression which may include having some difficulty in doing any kind of work, sleeping, studying, spending time with friends and other activities. Other symptoms include fatigue, feeling of guilt, indecisiveness, excessive sleeping or insomnia among others. I will also tell my cousin about the chances of suicide, homicide, or increased illness if the diseases is left untreated.
Treatment of clinical depression includes talk therapy, medicines or both (A.D.A.M, 2014). There are levels severities of clinical depression that may need treatment in hospital, which maybe when a person is having thoughts of committing suicide or when they are very depressed. If my cousin has a mild case of clinical depression I will recommend him to use talk therapy to treat the illness. Otherwise antidepressants medication is the better option for severe major depression (Long, 1998). Talk therapy will help him talk about his thoughts and feelings and in turn he will be counseled on how to deal with them.
There are a number of therapeutic approaches that are effective in treatment of major depression such as behavioral therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, group or family therapy, psychodynamic therapy. Cognitive behavioral therapy is the most commonly used and effective treatment of major depression. This is the kind of therapy I will recommend to my cousin to aid in his treatment. This type of therapy dwells more on what a depressed person can do to help him or her to change the way the person is feeling and not what caused the depression (Grohol, 2014).
References
A.D.A.M, (2014). Major Depression. The New York Times, Health Guide. Retrieved Fromhttp://www.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/major-depression/overview.html
Long, W., P., (1998). Major Depressive Disorder, Treatment. Retrieved From http://www.mentalhealth.com/rx/p23-md01.html
Grohol, J., M., (2014). Depression Treatment. Retrieved From http://psychcentral.com/lib/depression-treatment/000646
