Comparison of Antidepressants and Therapy

An examination of current literature in the field of psychology has shown that cognitive behavioral therapy is an empirically supported and effective treatment type for a multitude of disorders, especially a variety of anxiety disorders.

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a form of psychotherapy. The effectiveness has been researched extensively over the years (Dobson, 2001). There are over three hundred published studies about the outcomes of cognitive behavioral therapy interventions. The main reason for this is that an ongoing adaptation of this form of psychotherapy makes it applicable to a vast amount of disorders and related problems (Rounsaville & Caroll, 2002). Despite the relatively great amount of studies on the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy, questions still remain about the levels of effectiveness for different disorders, about the effects of

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a mixture of both Cognitive Therapy (CT), which deals with a person’s thoughts and Behavioral Therapy (BT), which concentrates on an individual’s overt or outside personality. According to Barbara P. Early and Melissa D. Grady, CT specializes in the mental process that can affect an individual’s feelings and behavior, while BT is focusing on the external environment that can cause the behaviors, such as a stimulus (Early & Grady, 2016). The use of the two therapies together allows the

Research has shown that cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) can be as successful as medicine in treating many types of depression and other mental health disorders it can be completed in a relatively short time compared with other talking therapies and because it is highly structured, CBT can be provided in a number of different formats such as through computer programs, groups and self-help books. Some research suggests that CBT may be better than antidepressants at preventing the return of depression. It is thought to be one of the most effective treatments for anxiety and depression.

There are different therapies that are used to help treat those who have suicidal ideation, behaviors, and attempts. For individuals to be successful in recovery one or more treatments may be necessary. Succession of recovery is a group effort and wiliness between individuals, family, friends, psychiatrists, and therapists. A traditional anti-depressive medication treatment is started to help reduce negative thoughts (Rovick, 2016). These medications increase serotonin levels in the brain to increase happier thoughts. However; depending on the individual, multiple medications are prescribed to target each symptom displayed. In some cases mood stabilizers or anti-psychotics are needed in correlation with the anti-depressants. Individuals with depression and PTSD are prescribed a SSRI and a medication to target the PTSD. Medications do not work quickly, the average time for depressive

Cognitive-behavioural therapy is more frequently used to treat an extensive range of disorders such as depression and anxiety.

There is a recent debate is on the different treatment methods for depression and which are the most effective. The

Overall, there is an agreement that patients with minor depressive symptoms should be prescribed a form of psychotherapy. Cognitive behavioral therapy is shown to be favorable over the other types of psychotherapies for depression treatment. However, some bias may exist due to cognitive behavioral therapy being the most studied form of psychotherapy. The evidence shows that cognitive behavioral therapy should be prescribed as a first line treatment. However, the large number of antidepressants prescribed by primary providers demonstrates a disconnect between evidence and practice. After reviewing the most up to date literature and APA guidelines (2013) the consensus is that psychotherapy should be prescribed for outpatients with minor depressive symptoms. Sufficient evidence suggests that cognitive behavioral therapy should be prescribed for all patients with minor depressive symptoms.

While this article goes over an array of treatment options, cognitive therapy is the main focus of this summary. Cognitive therapy was developed in the 1950s. It is known for its effectiveness in treating those who suffer from a depressive disorder. Eventually it has become a promising treatment

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)

, eight of which focused on comorbid Alcohol and Depression and four solely on Depression. They found positive results for the effectiveness of psychotherapies, including CBT (either alone or in combination with antidepressant medication). They concluded, however, that the evidence was not yet strong enough, due to the minor numbers of studies they had for their review, the diversity among them and the low methodological qualities of some. The results of these reviews suggest introductory evidence that psychological interventions in particular CBT, may be effective for treating co-occurring disorder.

Depression is a very hard illness to cure, but, daily antidepressants and weekly or monthly therapy can help depression over time. Depressive symptoms can be temporarily “fixed” by antidepressants, but more than likely, the depression will set in again. Although, if you use the drug treatment and therapy, depression has a lesser chance of returning. A new study with 595 patients with major depression showed that the best treatment plan involves a combination of psychotherapy and drug therapy. Fred Duman, M.D. says, “Even patients prescribed medication alone need psychological attention. Knowledgeable clinicians can miss things like poor compliance, life stresses and substance abuse that can interfere with the medication’s working.” Furthermore, psychotherapy and antidepressants together can help cure depression, which is why depression should be treated this

Some understanding is known through moderate to small level studies (Hasselbalch et al., 2012) and (Vittengl et al., 2007). The most effective current known treatment are methods in the preventive effect of acute cognitive therapy followed by continuation-phase treatment. Using data from (Kessler et al., 2003) 35,000,000 people have major depressive disorder annual in the United States, 16% of which receive adequate pharmacotherapy. Of the patients with unipolar depression that receive pharmacotherapy 50% respond to acute-phase treatment and continuation-phase treatment with 72% of those patients discontinuing pharmacotherapy within 90 days (Vittengl et al.,

As the literature remains inconclusive as to the relation between current major treatment modalities and depressive disorder, and given the extremities of the potential dangers of antidepressant medications, it is apparent that there is a need to develop new interventions, which show greater efficacy, safety, and acceptability.

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.