Psychotherapy Is an Effective Depression Treatment
Two studies confirm that psychotherapy, especially when added to medication, is an effective treatment for depression.
Both studies looked at interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT), which focuses on the relationship between mood and interpersonal life events or changes in key social roles.
In the first study, a group of hospitalized patients were given intensive psychotherapy in addition to their medication while the control group received medication but no psychotherapy. In addition to higher rates of response, the psychotherapy group had greater improvements in global and social functioning at the end of treatment and at both follow-ups.
In the second study, which looked at the minimum frequency of psychotherapy needed to maintain remission in women with recurrent depression, it was found that just one session per month was enough to prevent relapse for most patients.
Taken together, both studies show that psychotherapy can be an effective treatment for depression no matter what the severity of the depression.
Both studies appear in the May issue of The American Journal of Psychiatry
Comments
ABSOLUTELY TRUE about using therapy in conjunction with meds. Taking nothing away from the medical profession, I feel that far too many doctors are prescribing psychomedications, i.e. Cymbalta, Zoloft, the SSRI’s and NOT addressing the other side of the problem - the darker side. Psychotherapy. My personal feeling is that only doctors or personnel in the psychiatry field should be making these calls along with the advice of the psychotherapist. I think I can speak with some authority as I hae been diagnosed with Major Depression Disorder and high anxiety levels. Working with my therapist and psychiatrist I have been able to recover from major tragic events in life faster, including the death of my wife. I am not over her loss but I have made all the right decisions in connection with here death and other major events.
Thanks for the time and space.