Cognitive Therapy And The Treatment Of Depression

Globally, major depressive disorder (MDD) is among the top five public health concerns today (Cuijpers et al., 2011; Jakobsen, Hansen, Simonsen, & Gluud, 2011; Hees, Rotter, Ellermann, & Evers, 2013). Moreover, almost 20% of patients with depression engage in self-harming behaviors, including suicidal attempts (Gamble et al., 2013; Jakobsen et al., 2011). Not only is the prevalence of depression alarming, but costly to the health care system (Cuijpers et al., 2011; Cuijpers et al., 2014; Hees et al., 2013; Jakobsen et al., 2011). The use of antidepressants is the standard for initial treatment, but may be limiting in preventing relapse (Cuijpers et al., 2014; Jakobsen et al., 2011). Therefore, the inclusion of non-pharmacological interventions may be necessary to improve treatment outcomes (Cuijpers et al., 2011; Dekker et al., 2013; Jakobsen et al., 2011). Interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) and cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) are the two primary psychotherapeutic interventions recommended in the treatment of depression. In this paper, I will discuss the difference between CBT and IPT, compare the effectiveness between both therapies, explore their efficacy as an adjunct treatment with antidepressant medications, and summarize the treatment guidelines for depression.

1. Grohol, J. (2006). Depression Treatment. Psych Central. Retrieved on August 12, 2014, from http://psychcentral.com/lib/depression-treatment/000646

The use of prescription drugs has become prevalent in our society for treating mental illness. Television commercial breaks are inundated with ads for prescription medication. If a person seeking help visits a psychiatrist’s office to get help for depression, anxiety, or ADHD, they are likely to get a quick swipe of a pen on a little white prescription pad and be sent on their way. While prescriptions can reduce or eliminate the symptoms of mental illness, they cannot cure the underlying source of the problem. This has been found to be the case for depression. “The effectiveness of antidepressants is being called into question more and more, while the research behind the value of behavioral interventions is growing. A study suggested that mindfulness-based cognitive therapy was as effective in preventing relapse in chronic depression as antidepressants” (Walton). Using medication by itself may give people the relief they need in the short-run, but therapy can have lasting results that will improve the person’s quality of life in lasting ways.

Cognitive behavioral therapy is based off the theory that depression is caused by a pattern of negative thinking that may be triggered by upsetting situations (Comer, 2013). This pattern forms maladaptive attitudes, which cause individuals to constantly view themselves, their world, and their future in negative ways (Comer, 2013). Cognitive behavioral therapy is designed to help clients recognize and change their negative thoughts in an attempt to improve their mood (Comer, 2013). This approach also uses behavioral techniques to encourage patients to become more active and try out new behaviors (Comer, 2013). Cognitive behavioral therapy is

Once a practitioner has a strong understanding about MDD diagnostic criteria, prevalence, etiology, and prognosis, he or she should then strive to understand recommended MDD treatment modalities. The use of antidepressant medication (ADM), has been a highly regarded treatment for depression. In addition, cognitive-based approaches have also seen positive results. Therefore, Hollon et al. (2014) examined the effects of cognitive therapy (CT) combined with ADM, as opposed to ADM alone, on the treatment of individuals with MDD. Hollon et al. (2014) recruited 452 adults with chronic or recurrent MDD for this study. Patients were randomly assigned to the CT and ADM condition or to the ADM only condition (Hollon et al., 2014). Hollon et al. (2014) also stated that treatment lasted as long as 42 months. Hollon et al. (2014) found that CT combined with ADM significantly improved the rate of recovery when compared to the ADM alone, but only if the patients had severe MDD. The effect was not significant for individuals with mild and/or moderate depression. Therefore, Hollon et al. (2014) argued that ADM combined with CT will improve recovery rates for individuals with severe MDD.

As the cognitive approach takes into account the psychological symptoms of depressive disorder it would be more appropriate to use this to aid diagnosis than the biological approach but as drug therapy has proven to be more effective than cognitive behavioural therapy it may be more appropriate to use this approach to aid the correct choice of treatment for a patient but overall both these theories combined should be used to aid diagnosis and treatment as that would prove to be the most effective way to ensure the wellbeing of the

Does cognitive-behavioral therapy work just as well as antidepressants when treating depression? How we perceive our depression is what helps to determine the type of treatment necessary. Antidepressants treat the common symptoms of depression rather than the condition while therapy helps change the thought process so the disease is cured in the end. Many studies are done to provide necessary information to what the answer to this question should be. The following articles provided studies that explained the effects of treatment with medication, with therapy, or a combination of both.

Treatments using anti-depressants is well documented, but there are very few studies documenting only the use of psychotherapy. However, in one study done using the Cognitive–behavioral analysis system of psychotherapy (CBASP) as a maintenance treatment, the overall findings show that psychotherapy in itself can be successful. “ There were 82 patients who were treated with CBASP long term. Patients were chosen at random to reduce their treatment to monthly or to an observational status. The patients, only treated monthly with CBASP, showed a smaller amount of reoccurring symptoms then the patients in the observational status. These findings support the use of only CBASP as a maintenance treatment for depression.” (Klein, 2004)

A probable reason why CBT works with depressed patients is that depression interacts with both cognitive and motivational processes. This is well evidenced in experimental analogue research with healthy and depressed individuals. Individuals with depression show deficits on a range of cognitive tests (Brown, Scott, Bench, 1994) with the pattern of dysfunction having many of the characteristics associated with fronto-subcortical impairment. Reischies and Neu (2000) found that depressed individuals displayed mild cognitive impairments in comparison with matched controls, particularly in the areas of "adverbial" memory, psychomotor speed and verbal fluency. Further in these patients there appears to be considerable variation in the recovery of cognitive function with remission of the depressive episode.

I completely agree with your claim regarding depression being a progressive symptom as shown in the video how depressive thoughts played a critical role in defining the feelings experienced by individuals with social anxiety disorder. Also, I believe depression can serve as an impairing symptom as it limited individuals from freely expressing themselves and grounded them to their comfort zones affecting their overall functionality in a negative manner. Furthermore, I agree with medications such as antidepressants and cognitive behavior therapy to be effective forms of treatment as the medications reduce the symptoms allowing the patients to open up while the therapy served to be beneficial in regards to alleviating the negative thoughts and

Cognitive behavioral treatment (CBT) of depression is a psychotherapeutic treatment approach that involves the application of specific, empirically supported strategies focused on changing negative thinking patterns and altering behavior. In order to alleviate the symptoms of depression, treatment is directed at the following three domains: cognition, behavioral and physiological. In the cognitive domain, patients learn to apply cognitive restructuring techniques so that negatively distorted thoughts underlying depression can be corrected, leading to more logical and adaptive thinking. Within the behavioral domain, techniques such as activity scheduling, social skills training and assertiveness training are used to remediate behavioral

Goldfried, M.R., Burckell, L.A., & Eubanks-Carter, C. (2003). Therapist self-disclosure in cognitive-behavior therapy. Journal of Clinical Psychology, Special Issue: In Session, 59(5), 555-568.

The research question of this article, Updating Positive and Negative Stimuli in Working Memory in Depression, is based on the working memory (WM) is the key factors of cognition and emotion principles of the mind. In the study that was taken by Levens and Gotlib in 2010, was based on the ability to renew and undo information with the WM. As we know, WM only gives a limit access to certain components in the cognitive process. But how do depressed people process negative

In research conducted by Hollon et al (2005), it was stated that while there was evidence for the enduring effects of cognitive therapy, there was a lack of extensive research comparing the effects to the use of antidepressant medication after terminating the treatment.

They are also similar in that there is limited success with these approaches. The cognitive approach consists of four phases and is very effective in helping people overcome depression. The phases start with increasing the individual’s life activities which elevates their mood, the second phase forces individuals to change their automatic negative thoughts so they will be more positive, the third phase takes the new positive attitude and applies that thinking to the individual’s sense of what is happening in their life, the fourth and final stage is to change the primary attitudes that allowed the depressive behavior to begin (Chapter 7, 2009).