Can You Go to Rehab for Depression?

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If you’re having serious thoughts about suicide or self-harm, immediate help is available. Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 or visit their website to chat with an emotional support counselor

Did you know many luxury rehabs don’t just treat addictions, but mental health and mood disorders like depression, too? In fact, many people could greatly benefit from inpatient treatment for depression.

The seriousness of depression shouldn’t be underestimated—the prolonged feelings of sorrow depression causes can hinder your ability to be an active participant in your own life and make you feel hopeless, drained and physically unwell. Depression is a life-threatening mental illness1 and often requires professional help.

Could inpatient depression treatment be the right path for you? Following, we’ll take a look at

  • When to go to rehab for depression
  • Who benefits from inpatient depression treatment
  • Where to find residential treatment centers for depression

When Do You Need Inpatient Depression Treatment?

People choose to go to residential rehab for depression for a few reasons. These could have to do with the severity of their depression, feeling like they’ve exhausted other treatment options, or wanting a retreat-like atmosphere to reset.

Your primary care doctor or qualified mental health professional can help you determine if inpatient depression treatment is the right step for you. Following are some signs that it may help you consider a more in-depth approach to tackling this persistent condition.

When Depression Takes Over Your Life

Sometimes depression is manageable, but other times it’s downright unbearable. Some depression sufferers experience such profound sadness that they can’t think of anything else. This common mood disorder can weigh heavily on those who struggle with it, making it difficult to find joy or pleasure in anything. And in this context, even simple tasks like showering, cleaning the house, and grocery shopping can feel virtually impossible.

Other signs of severe depression that could be a cue to talk to a mental health provider include

  • Isolating yourself from friends and family
  • Inability to hold a steady job
  • Using drugs or alcohol to cope
  • Not leaving your house for days at a time
  • Dramatic weight loss or weight gain
  • Bouts of unexplainable sadness and crying
  • Hurting yourself
  • Thoughts or attempts at suicide

If depression interferes with your ability to function in your everyday life, you might find relief in the higher level of care and surrounding support that rehab provides.

When Other Therapies Haven’t Worked

For some people, conventional depression treatment methods just don’t do the trick. Treatment-resistant depression2 occurs in about 10-30% of those who are with diagnosed major depression. This means that even after first-line approaches like antidepressants and talk therapy, they may still experience thoughts of self-harm or suicide, find it hard to function, and be likely to relapse into another depressive episode.

However, other options are available. Several alternative therapies for treatment-resistant depression3 are shown to work effectively, including:

  • Transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS)
  • Ketamine-assisted therapy (KAT)
  • Combined medication and psychotherapy

A number of inpatient rehabs are equipped with the professional staff and programming required to treat mental health and addiction comprehensively. This means they offer more opportunities to try different treatment options, including approaches that involve combining therapies.

If you’ve tried multiple medication strategies, or you’ve been in outpatient therapy for a long time without making significant progress, a more intensive option like a residential program rehab may help you make the change you’ve been looking for.

When You Need a Change of Scenery

Our surroundings have a huge impact on our mood, and environmental factors can affect the experience of depression. In fact, the WHO’s Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse includes supportive environments in its recommendations for fostering mental health:4

“Mental health promotion involves actions that support people to adopt and maintain healthy lifestyles and which create supportive living conditions or environments for health,” according to their report summary Promoting Mental Health: Concepts, Emerging Evidence, Practice.

Research also suggests that spending more time in nature can have a positive effect on mood disorders.5 Many residential treatment facilities are located in serene, naturally beautiful areas for just this reason.

Inpatient treatment offers a chance to step away from day-to-day life, which many people find makes them more receptive to change. It can also be a good option for anyone who wants a more immersive treatment experience, even if their depression isn’t especially severe.

How Rehab Can Help Depression

Residential depression rehab allows you to commit fully to your recovery for a period of time. For those who haven’t had success with more less structured treatment options, this could mean more potential to impact your relationship with yourself, and new opportunities to see different results.

Highly Individualized Programming

High-quality rehab programs are often designed to provide you with a fully customized treatment plan. This is based on thorough assessments you receive before and during the intake, or admissions, process. These centers usually have a wide array of therapeutic methods at their disposal, from individual and group psychotherapy to experiential and holistic approaches. Your team of clinicians—comprised of some combination of medical doctors, psychologists, psychiatrists and complementary therapists—can combine different elements into a treatment plan just for you. This is good news for your outcomes, as experts agree that depression treatment is more effective with a multifaceted approach.6

Sharing Your Experience and Learning From Others

One of the most difficult aspects of depression is the crippling loneliness it entails. At a rehab that treats depression, you’ll be with others who have been through what you’re going through and understand how you feel. You’ll spend every day in an environment of professionals who can help you unpack how you’re feeling and learn how to manage it. Knowing you’re surrounded by people who are working with you toward your success can give you a much-needed boost of affirmation and encouragement.

Gaining Lifelong Tools

Oftentimes, depression is a chronic condition.7 Developing an ability to cope with it and prevent it from recurring is an invaluable asset when struggling with this disorder. Intensive depression treatment helps you build a solid toolbox of coping skills you can reach into again and again, each time you need to, well after you leave treatment. These awareness tools may help you move through depression episodes more quickly, or experience them less intensely, if they do resurface.

Depression often feels like a merry-go-round you can’t get off. Stepping away from your familiar patterns and into a treatment-focused environment can provide a welcome break from the cycle and allow you to progress in new ways. Going to treatment pulls you out of that day-to-day slump and into a structured day built around your recovery.

Taking the Next Step

If depression has prevented you from fully living your life and you’ve exhausted other avenues, then a more intense, immersive option can be a good idea. Depression rehab isn’t punishing or harsh; you can think of it as a retreat that gives you the time and space to create change. For those struggling with depression, taking the step of seeking inpatient treatment may be necessary. Check with your healthcare provider or therapist to determine if this is the right recovery path for you.

Rising above your depression starts with reaching out for help. And finding a program that meets your needs can be the most healing experience of your life.

To learn more about available programs, see our searchable list of residential depression treatment centers.


Frequently Asked Questions About Residential Depression Treatment

Can depression be treated at a luxury rehab center?

Yes. Luxury rehabs offer evidence-based therapies like CBT and medication to help people with depression manage symptoms and achieve long-term recovery. Additionally, many luxury rehabs offer holistic therapies such as yoga, meditation, and massage therapy for a more comfortable treatment experience.

What’s the difference between inpatient and outpatient rehab for depression?

Inpatient rehab for depression involves living at a treatment center for a set period of time (usually from a few weeks to several months). In outpatient depression treatment, you receive treatment during the day and return home at night. Inpatient programs may be better if you have severe depression or require round-the-clock care, while outpatient treatment is good for those with milder symptoms or who have a strong support system at home.

What should I look for in a residential rehab center for depression treatment?

Look for a facility with experienced and qualified treatment teams that offer a range of evidence-based therapies to help manage symptoms and promote long-term recovery. Holistic healing approaches such as yoga, meditation, and mindfulness practices can also be helpful. You might also consider the center’s amenities, accommodations and level of personalization.

Luxury Treatment in New England: A Visit to McLean Hospital

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While New England might not be the first place that comes to mind when thinking of luxury addiction treatment in the U.S., McLean Hospital’s Signature Recovery Program definitely puts it on the map. As a Harvard Medical School affiliate, McLean offers a level of clinical excellence that can be hard to find in addiction treatment. Its 2 beautiful locations include McLean Fernside in a historic bed and breakfast overlooking the city of Boston in the distance, and McLean Borden Cottage in a spectacular mansion on Penobscot Bay. This facility’s accommodations hold their own against the best luxury centers out there.

Watch as our team gets an inside look into McLean’s Signature Recovery Program.

Steeped in History

Arguably the most historic region in the United States, New England is home to Revolutionary War battlefields, quaint small towns, and historic institutions. One such institution is McLean Hospital, founded in 1811. Originally a mental health facility, in the late 1960s McLean recognized the importance of treating addiction and began offering addiction treatment programs. They now offer programs across the spectrum of care at a number of locations. Paired with another historical institution, Harvard (which is in fact the oldest institution of higher learning in the U.S.), McLean has hundreds of years of experience and some of the greatest minds in the world to draw from.

McLean Hospital Belmont Campus
Administration building on McLean’s main campus in Belmont, MA

Evidence-Based Care

“Our Signature Recovery Programs are based on proven methods and scientific inquiry that informs treatment.”

– Rocco A. Iannucci, MD, Mclean Fernside Director

As a treatment program embedded in a research hospital, the decisions made at McLean Signature Recovery are based on research and evidence-based practices. That shone through especially when discussing their thoughts on group therapy. Typically, a luxury center might de-emphasize group therapy, but at McLean they believe it to be an important part of treatment.

frame 9053One of the rooms typically used for group therapy at McLean Borden Cottage

As McLean Fernside’s Director Dr. Rocco Iannucci explains, “Group therapy has been shown to be uniquely effective for treatment of substance use problems. There’s a way in which peer-to-peer interactions that are facilitated by an experienced and well-trained clinician can really add to recovery in a way that just the one-on-one interactions may not. People can bond with each other. They can communicate with each other in a different sort of way.”

International Leadership

“McLean is a world-class leader in terms of measuring treatment outcome. Back in 1994 we developed something called the BASIS and the Perceptions of Care. Those are two instruments that really look to see whether people are improving or not… And that is a product that is actually used by institutions all around the country and internationally. They use our instruments. So I like to think that they’re looking to McLean as the gold standard in terms of quality of care in the substance abuse arena.”

– Philip Levundusky, PhD, ABPP

Not surprisingly, institutions around the world look to McLean as a leader in the field. As Director of McLean’s Psychology Department Dr. Philip Levundusky told us, they are especially excited about a consulting relationship they’ve had over the past 6 years with a major rehabilitation centre in Abu Dhabi, helping a relatively new program bring their substance abuse capabilities to a world-class level.

McLean also frequently provides care to international clients and is able to cater the program to each individual’s cultural needs. McLean’s Middle East Center for Culturally Informed Care is one result of that, and has a proven history of helping clients from that part of the world.

Deconstructing Stigma

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McLean’s Deconstructing Stigma display at Boston Logan Airport

An example of McLean’s leadership in driving the conversation around addiction and mental health can be found in their Deconstructing Stigma campaign. This campaign features stories from people affected by mental illness, using their real names, and real stories. Participants volunteered to be part of this campaign in order to help tear down the stigma surrounding mental illness and it is hard to miss—with 8-foot-tall photos and stories encompassing an entire hallway at Boston Logan Airport.

See all the stories and learn more about this powerful campaign at the Deconstructing Stigma website.

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