Psychotherapy With Medication for Depression

According to the World Health Organization, millions of people across the globe suffer from depression. Many of these people seek psychotherapy and other treatments. Read on to learn more about psychotherapy. The choice to undergo treatment for depression kicks off a long and sometimes stressful process of experimenting with different drugs to identify the optimum treatment strategy. Patients may be required to complete forms containing screening questions and be requested to submit personal information. When patients are diagnosed with depression, they typically have to choose between psychotherapy, medication, or both.

Psychotherapy and medication for depression

Choosing between various treatments for depression may be difficult for each individual, and patients may depend on the psychiatrist to guide them.

Psychotherapy, often known as talk therapy, is a treatment option for patients suffering from mental illnesses such as depression. Evidence-based therapies like cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) have grown prominent in the area of psychotherapy.

CBT equips patients with the skills they need to deal with negative thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. This kind of psychotherapy helps persons suffering from depression find relief by providing social support and teaching them coping mechanisms.

Antidepressant medicines, on the other hand, act by altering chemical signals in the brain. Antidepressants may help some people with depression and not others.

The efficacy of these treatment options is still being studied. Psychotherapy and antidepressants were found to be equally beneficial in 2012 research that looked at data from over 100 previous studies and involved 10,000 participants.

Since then, similar studies have been undertaken, with many studies concluding that both psychotherapies and medications are equally beneficial in improving the quality of life for persons suffering from depression.

Combining therapy and medication

With the knowledge that both psychotherapy and medicine are treatments for depression and are typically equally successful, it raises the issue of whether the two treatments may provide even better outcomes if used together. Most patients get either psychotherapy or medicine based on research results evaluating the efficacy of each treatment.

In 2016, the American College of Physicians issued recommendations for treating depression with antidepressants rather than psychotherapy. According to the committee, CBT and newer-generation antidepressants show equivalent efficacy in individuals with depression. For depression treatment, the recommendations urge that practitioners give patients the choice of CBT or medications.

Antidepressants are often used as the first line of treatment for people suffering from depression. Nausea and vomiting are common side effects of these drugs. According to surveys, more than 250 million antidepressant prescriptions are filled each year. According to 2015 Journal of the American Medical Association research, 13% of individuals in the United States used antidepressants in 2012, almost doubling the number since 1999.