Study: Talk Therapy May Help Depression when Medications Inadequate

A first-of-its-kind large scale research study concluded that the addition of talk therapy to a medication regimen helps to relieve the symptoms of depression, the leading cause of disability in the United States in those ages 15 years to 44 years, according to the National Institute of Mental Health .

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy as an Adjunct to Medication Treatment

Only one-third of people with depression receive relief of symptoms from medication alone, so what can be done to help the millions of people who have the illness? Researchers from the universities of Glasgow, Bristol and Exeter in the United Kingdom determined to find out by recruiting more than 450 study participants, ages 18 to 79, each of whom were among the two-thirds of those diagnosed with depression that medication alone did not resolve their symptoms.

The randomized controlled trial measured results at both six months and 12 months, and based the scores on self-reporting of depression symptoms and relief of depression symptoms by the participants. At both intervals, 46 percent of those receiving cognitive behavioral therapy, CBT, reported an abatement of at least 50 percent of their depression symptoms versus 22 percent of those receiving medication alone.

What Is the Impact of the Study Conclusions to Treatment for Depression?

Before this study, there was little measurable scientific evidence that CBT was a useful adjunct treatment for depression in people whose depressive symptoms did not respond to medication alone. Now, both mental health professionals and medical physicians alike can prescribe talk therapy for these individuals with reasonable certainty that nearly half of those who participate in such therapy will have some relief of symptoms.

But the study's conclusions also indicate that additional research is needed to provide relief of symptoms of depression in 54 percent of the people whose symptoms are resistant to both medication and talk therapy.

What Is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy?

Cognitive behavioral therapy, talk therapy, is a widely used type of mental health counseling in which a mental health counselor provides a structured environment for aiding the individual to recognize inaccurate or negative thinking, explains MayoClinic.com .

Bottom Line

While it is reassuring to learn that many of the millions of individuals diagnosed with depression whose symptoms have not responded to antidepressant medications alone can find at least some relief of symptoms through CBT, the availability of such services in the United States is woefully lacking. Mental Health America , an advocacy group for mental health and substance abuse issues, reported that people with depression go, on average, 10 years before receiving treatment and fewer than one-third of those that do receive "minimally adequate care."

Mental health service availability varies from state to state; those with the least amount of services have the highest rates for suicide, the most significant negative outcome of depression.

The statistics represent only those people who are diagnosed with depression. There are likely many more people who have depression symptoms who are not reporting it, such as baby boomers and their seniors, according to the American Psychological Association , whose data is not represented, meaning even less service availability.

In a nation that prides itself on being the greatest on earth, we have far to go in mental health treatment.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/study-talk-therapy-may-help-depression-medications-inadequate-195700987.html

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