Talk therapy combined with anti-depressants can prove beneficial for people with depression, a new research suggests.
In the wake of Hollywood star Robin Williams' suicide, the extreme effects of depression has come into focus. The condition could also drive people to end their lives.
This study examined a new way of treatment for people with short-term severe depression. The team found that combining talk therapy with anti-depressants was effective. For the study, the researchers assessed 452 adults suffering from depression. The participants were being treated at one of the three university medical centers in the United States and were randomly assigned to one of the two treatment plans. These were - antidepressants only and antidepressants combined with cognitive therapy.
The researchers explained that cognitive therapy breaks down the pattern of negative thoughts in people. During the study time frame, the doctors were allowed to change the anti-depressant drugs to understand which is the most effective option for a particular patient.
"We allowed the clinicians to do whatever it took to get the patient better," said lead author Steven Hollon, a professor of psychology at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN states, reports the HealthDay. "We really pulled out all the stops. We did something that was closer to what people would do in good clinical practice in the real world."
The findings showed that four out of five patients with severe depression recovered completely after receiving a combination of therapy and anti-depressants. In people with severe and not chronic depression, this treatment enhanced their chances of recovery 30 percent more than just anti-depressants could. However, the treatment did not yield results in those with mild depression.
After comparing success rates, the researchers found that 73 percent of the people who got combined therapy made a full recovery as opposed to the 63 percent of those who were in the drugs only group. The recovery rate was 81 percent in the combination group and 52 percent in the drugs only group in patients with short-term severe depression.
"Having the additional therapy component with medication helps patients with depression, clinically," said Dr Scott Krakower, assistant unit chief of psychiatry at Zucker Hillside Hospital in New York City. "Medication and therapy should still be used in combination as much as possible, until we know more."
The study, 'Effect of Cognitive Therapy With Antidepressant Medications vs Antidepressants Alone on the Rate of Recovery in Major Depressive Disorder', was published in JAMA Psychiatry.
