A recent study conducted at the University of Pennsylvania has found that cognitive therapy was as effective as antidepressant medication in treating moderate to severe depression. But will this discovery move the nation away from its “pill happy” culture and back to the leather couch? The Washington Times reports:
“On the whole, these findings do not support the current American Psychiatric Association guideline, based on the TDCRP, or Treatment of Depression Collaborative Research Program, that ‘most — moderately and severely depressed — patients will require medication,’ ” the researchers said.
“It appears that cognitive therapy can be as effective as medications, even among more severely depressed outpatients, at least when provided by experienced cognitive therapists,” they added.
The lead researcher on the study was Robert DeRubeis. The experiment used 240 subjects, all “moderately to severely depressed”, over the course of 16 weeks. The pills were 58% effective, as was cognitive therapy. The findings are published in the Archives of General Psychiatry.
Nathan Novak at 11:24 am
