In the USA, depression is the leading cause of impairment, affecting 15 million individuals each year, based on the National Institute of Mental Health. And while many individuals with depression who are prescribed antidepressants enhance — and even go into remission — some stay not responsive to drug treatment.
Researchers from the University of Bristol in Great Britain are reporting a particular type of conversation therapy had a dramatic impact on individuals within their study whose depression didn’t react to drugs. Predicated on their findings, they recommend that clinicians treating depression suggest cognitive behavioral therapy to patients as the following plan of action, when antidepressants are not effective.
Cognitive behavior therapy is a type of psychological counseling that teaches a man the way to believe in ways that are healthy. Instead of helping a patient rehash her or his youth experiences, as is occasionally the case in traditional psychotherapy or psychoanalysis, a cognitive behavioral therapist helps a patient become mindful of how patterns of perception and thought influence behaviours and activities.
In cognitive behaviour therapy, patient and the therapist work together to develop solutions that are pragmatic and coping skills, tackling problems that range from obesity.
Patients focus on altering thought patterns and behaviours to tackle inherent psychological challenges. In cognitive behavior therapy, therapists take on a role like that of a personal trainer, and offer guidance and practical help, while the individual is likely to do “the work,” some of which occurs outside of treatment sessions. Unlike the long-term or ongoing psychotherapy treatment referred to as psychoanalysis, cognitive behavior therapy is short term, with patients generally ending treatment
In the Bristol study, which appears in the British medical journal The Lancet, the focus was on patients age 18 and older who didn’t respond to psychotropic medications. The 469 study participants were randomly assigned to groups to either continue drug therapy or nutritional supplement medicine with cognitive behavior therapy.
Within half a year, 46 percent of the 234 patients in treatment experienced a decrease in depressive symptoms, compared with 22 percent who continued to only take medications. Patients receiving cognitive behavior therapy reported ongoing progress in depressive symptoms following annually.
