Depression In Physical Therapy

In physical therapy today, there are many different types of specializations. From geriatric, pediatric, orthopedic, and many others but what about for people with mental illness? Depression in physical therapy is very common. Imagine being told that you will not be able to provide for your family anymore, or you would never be able to play the sport you love again. That can make anyone feel like less of a person or less of a provider. Depression is a mental illness characterized by depressed mood or loss of interest or pleasure in normal activities. Depression is a term that has been used to describe short-lived feelings, a psychological disorder, and a health problem that is characterized by a group of related symptoms. Some depressions seem

You can go and get seen by a doctor and take multiple tests but still feel depressed. So how could you measure the level of depression in physical therapy patients? Researchers took physical therapy patients and tested several different theories. Researchers took several different patients with a history of injuries and depression and studied them. There were two groups. One group stayed on the inside of the building doing the regular routine of physical therapy. Which is laying on a table having a physician come in to examine you and do some very mild exercises and after about thirty minutes to an hour its time to leave. The therapy would be completed. The second group had a different method of physical therapy which included more physical activity. They were in swimming pools while working out which was easier on the body and some sessions were held from the comfort of their own homes. Their physical therapy was more active, more engaging, and had different settings. In conclusion of the study, the results were the second group healed faster and had a better outlook not just on physical therapy but on

Talking to real life physical therapy patients that have been diagnosed with depression, they feel as the “old” way of just sitting in a clinic and going on different machines is least effective. They rather have more physical activity. If there were more “physical” in physical therapy the treatment would be more beneficial towards the patients. The injuries would heal faster, the quality of life would improve, and the patients would be less prone to coming back for the same treatment for the same injury. The way we treat physical therapy patients with mental illness needs to be changed. No patient is going to be willing to take treatment if they continuously come to the same gray office doing the same thing. There are new methods waiting to be discovered. More efficient, more active, and more appealing to the patients. The patients and the people are the business and its time to reinvent how people treat depression in physical