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29 - Psychotherapy for depression: current empirical status and future directions

from Part III - Specific treatments

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 May 2010

By
Scott Temple  and
John Geddes
Edited by
Peter Tyrer  and
Kenneth R. Silk
Scott Temple
Affiliation:
Penn State College of Medicine Hershey Medical Center Hershey, PA USA
John Geddes
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry University of Oxford Warneford Hospital Oxford UK
Peter Tyrer
Affiliation:
Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, London
Kenneth R. Silk
Affiliation:
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
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Summary

Editor's note

The treatment of the most common of mental disorders by the means most patients prefer, psychotherapy, is likely to be one of the most frequently referenced chapters in this book. Here we see a common message writ clear; psychological treatments are in the same league as drug treatments for depression and tend to be better in the long term in maintaining a stable mood. Not all psychological therapies are similar in efficacy, but both cognitive therapy and interpersonal therapy can be championed as contenders for preferred treatment for all forms of mild to moderate depression. While drug treatment may have the edge in more severe depression, when combined with psychological treatments they do even better. The only negative issues are the paucity of skilled therapists and the delay in reaching improvement, the latter being generally greater with psychological therapy. But we are still at the relative dawn of good evidence in this subject and in particular the specific place of the different psychological treatments has yet to be determined.

Introduction

There is perhaps more high-quality evidence for the efficacy of psychotherapy in the treatment of depression than in any other mental disorder. A large number of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have demonstrated that psychological treatments work, and research is beginning to shed light on possible active mechanisms of treatment.

Type
Chapter
Information
Cambridge Textbook of Effective Treatments in Psychiatry , pp. 507 - 515
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2008

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