Therapy and medication both help in depression

Reported by Susan Aldridge, PhD, medical journalist

A study reveals how cognitive therapy can be as effective as antidepressant medication when it comes to treating depression.
Cognitive therapy involves helping a person 'un-learn' negative thinking patterns and beliefs and replacing them with more constructive ideas. It has already been found useful in the treatment of depression.

A team at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, now reports on a comparison of cognitive therapy with antidepressant medication in a group of 240 moderate to severely depressed patients. They were assigned to either antidepressant medication, placebo or cognitive therapy.

After eight weeks of treatment, response rates in the medication group were 50 per cent, in the therapy group 43 per cent, and in the placebo group 25 per cent. At sixteen weeks, the response rates were 58 per cent for those receiving medication and those receiving therapy. However, remission rates were 46 per cent in those on medication and 40 per cent in those having therapy. The study suggests that, contrary to what some psychiatrists think, those with severe depression can perhaps receive cognitive therapy in place of medication.

Source
Archives of General Psychiatry April 2005 Volume 62 pages 409-416

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