Setting Treatment Goals for Depression: Strategies and Benefits

Disclaimer: This information is for educational purposes only and does not replace professional medical advice. Always consult with a healthcare provider for personalized treatment options.

Sangeeta, a 32-year-old female, has felt quite low for a couple of weeks. She has lost interest in daily activities, does not eat or sleep well, is unable to focus, and is always on the verge of crying. When she consulted a psychologist for counseling, she was diagnosed with depression. While the diagnosis helped her to make sense of what was going on, she did not know what to do to feel better. The psychologist suggested to Sangeeta that both of them work together to set some goals for the treatment of depression.

What are the treatment goals for depression? How do they help in recovery? How to set these goals? These are some questions we aim to answer in this article.

Let’s dive in.

Understanding Depression

Depression is an umbrella term for a range of depressive disorders in which an individual experiences a constant state of low mood for more than two weeks. It may include feelings of sadness, irritation, and emptiness along with a loss of pleasure in life.

Along with low mood, some other signs of depression are:

Fluctuations in weight
Appetite gain or loss
Sleep disturbances
A state of tiredness or low energy
Poor self-esteem
Inability to concentrate
Thoughts of dying

The symptoms of depression can overshadow every aspect of the person’s life, taking a toll on their health and well-being. The good news is that depression is a treatable condition. If you suspect that you are experiencing depressive symptoms, reach out to a Mave Health Therapist today to get the mental health support you deserve.

Importance Of Setting Treatment Goals For Depression

It is important to set treatment goals for depression as it allows us to evaluate the effectiveness of therapeutic interventions in reducing the severity of depressive symptoms.

A set of clear goals can help us to manage expectations and track progress. It also gives us an idea about where the treatment is headed and makes us feel accomplished and motivated when we make small, consistent steps toward recovery.

Types Of Treatment Goals For Depression

Short-Term Goals for Depression

It can be quite challenging to navigate our daily lives when we are struggling with depression. A loss of energy and interest can make even small tasks feel like an uphill battle. In these moments, the goal of recovery may feel too hard to reach and fill us with despair. That is why it is important to set short–term goals for depression so that we can keep our momentum going and spirits high.

Short-term goals for depression are small, manageable steps we can take toward our mental health. Some examples include:

Moving our body in accessible, joyful ways (for example, sitting outside, going for a walk, doing exercise, etc.)
Automating, delegating, or simplifying daily tasks (for example, if you find eating challenging, you can meal prep simple recipes in advance, order in, or ask a loved one to cook for you).
Booking a medical assessment or a therapy session to gauge the severity of the depressive symptoms.
Setting an alarm so that you remember to take medications.
Keeping your living space as tidy as possible.
Connecting with a loved one to avoid self–isolation.

Striving for short-term goals plays an important role in our road to recovery. By taking care of our mind, body, and spirit in whatever ways it small, doable ways, we build strength and resilience to overcome depression.

Long-Term Goals for Depression

The long-term treatment goals for depression are the ones that require more time, energy, and effort to materialize. For example:

Returning to the baseline level of mood.
Doing a complex task which has a lot of steps (for example, applying for a PhD).
Cultivating sustainable habits to improve resilience (for example, building a healthier lifestyle).
Picking up unfinished tasks that are interrupted due to lack of interest and energy (for example, going to the gym, exercising, dating, etc.)

The long-term treatment goals help us to enhance our mental well-being, aid in recovery, and prevent relapses. They can also give us a sense of purpose when we feel hopeless due to depressive feelings.

Strategies For Setting Effective Treatment Goals

What is a Healthy Approach to Setting Goals When Dealing with Depression?

The healthy approach to setting goals when dealing with depression requires an awareness of our personal capacity and a vision for recovery. We want to set optimum goals for ourselves – something we can reasonably achieve.

For example, if you are suffering from depression and feeling quite low on energy, your doctor or therapist might recommend you incorporate some movement in your daily life. You know that while you may not be motivated to engage in movement, it will be good for your physical and mental health.

So how can you set an optimum goal when it comes to movement?

Be realistic about your capacity: Don’t aim too high or too low. You can select a level in which you feel engaged and challenged. For example, you feel that sitting out in the sun is not doing much but you are not ready to go to the gym regularly. An optimum goal can be somewhere in the middle – maybe a walk? Or you can play your favorite sport? Do something that brings some joy and motivates you to keep going.
Set yourself up for success: If you want to start walking, it may be possible that you are not able to go daily. Start once or twice a week. Start walking for 10 minutes and then increase the duration. Prepare a bag of things you need beforehand so you don’t get overwhelmed and procrastinate. All these small acts make it more likely that you will go for a walk which will give momentum to keep at it. If you start with too high a goal, for example, I will walk for one hour every day, the chances are you may find it hard to follow through and experience disappointment.

SMART Goals for Depression

Now you know how to gauge personal capacity to set goals for depression treatment. You might still be wondering how will you keep track of your journey of achieving the goal. You may find SMART goals incredibly helpful for this purpose.

The SMART Goals for depression are:

Specific (S): Be as concrete as possible. Plan your goal in as much detail as possible. For example, I want to go for walking in the park at 7 am in the morning.

Here you have clarity of the type of activity you want to do, where you want to do it, and at what time. This may help you to plan ahead, like, you may sleep early, set an alarm, pick a cute outfit, and pre-fill your water bottle. So, when you wake up, you are ready to go without thinking too much about if or not to do it.

Measurable (M): How will you decide if you have made any progress in your goal? Having some criteria of measurement is useful. So you may count how many walks you went for in a week, track it in a journal, etc. You can also count the number of steps or the time you spent walking so that you have a sense of clarity and accomplishment.
Achievable (A): Make sure you have the capacity and resources to initiate a goal you seek to achieve. For example, for walking you may need access to a sidewalk or a park. If you want to walk for 60 minutes every day and it seems too daunting, you can start by walking for 10 minutes first. You can also commit to showing up in the park regardless of whether you have the energy to walk that day or not. But if your depressive symptoms are too severe, this may not seem achievable. So adjust your goals accordingly.
Relevant (R): These activities should aid in your depression treatment goals. For example, walking helps to improve mood and increase physical activity, which is helpful in recovery from depression.
Time-bound (T): You can set the time duration for engaging in an activity (for example, 30 minutes of walking every day) daily and/or as a long-term goal for depression treatment (e.g., reaching 5000 steps every day in six months). It can give you a sense of purpose, motivation, and accountability to keep going.

Prioritizing Goals

If you have multiple depression treatment goals, you might feel overwhelmed about where to start. With the help of a therapist or a trusted, safe person, consider:

How many goals can you work on at the moment?
What goals serve the most relevant treatment goals and objectives for depression?
What goals are SMART goals for depression?
Do you need to work on short-term or long-term goals first?
How can you create a balance between short-term and long-term goals for depression treatment?

Adjusting Goals Over Time

As you start making progress in your treatment goals and objectives for depression, it is natural that your needs and priorities start to shift. For example, if you have started engaging in physical activity regularly, it may become a habit, and you may not need to put in a lot of conscious effort. It is a sign that you can move on to other goals to enhance your physical and mental well-being.

It is also possible that you are not making progress as you had hoped. It’s okay! Talk to your doctor and therapist to make changes as necessary. A regular progress review helps us to understand what is working or not working for our recovery journey.

Tools and Techniques for Achieving Treatment Goals

Journaling

Keeping a journal of your treatment goals can help you track progress and feel a sense of accomplishment in the gains you have made. There are no rules for journalling! Feel free to claim it as a creative space that works for you. You can scribble, doodle, color, make bullet points, tables, etc. as you see fit.

Support Systems

Our loved ones can offer an invaluable support in our journey to recover from depression. Our support systems may include our partners, family, friends, and other safe people. They can offer us practical help, emotional support, and encouragement to keep on going.

Professional Help

No matter the level of difficulty, professional support in the form of therapy and medications is an invaluable resource in depression treatment. Professionals can offer us personalized support based on our unique mental health needs. You can also consider joining a support group of people struggling with depression. These spaces allow people with similar lived experiences to come together to feel a sense of belonging, learn practical tools, and cocreate common knowledge in dealing with the struggles of depression.

Overcoming Challenges In Setting And Achieving Goals

Dealing with Setbacks

It is possible that when you set out with a treatment goal it does not go the way you hoped because:

You have unexpected bad days.
You think you are making progress but then you fall back to the same mood.
The strategy is not as effective as you had hoped.
There are unexpected setbacks like lack of time, overwhelming demands of daily life, etc.

It is natural to feel dejected when things don’t pan out as you had hoped. This is a time to lean on your support system and healthcare providers to reassure you, readjust your goals, and help you gather strength to try again.

Maintaining Motivation

While it is so hard to keep on going when you are feeling depressed, know that you can get better. Ask a lot of help from others as necessary, celebrate every small win, and take some solace know that this shall too pass. Be kind and compassionate towards yourself as you move through this difficult journey of recovering from depression.

Conclusion

It is important to set short- and long-term goals for depression treatment for a sustainable recovery. Short-term goals focus on tasks that are doable, need immediate attention, and can help to garner mental strength. Long-term goals focus on building resilience, achieving mood balance, and preventing relapse. The treatment goals and objectives for depression should be SMART, optimally set, and flexible. One must not go on this journey alone. Connect to a Mave Health Therapist for professional mental health support and ask for help from your loved ones as needed.

References

American Psychiatric Association, D. S. M. T. F., & American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: DSM-5 (Vol. 5, No. 5). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.