The study, which was funded by a $4 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, contradicts the current guidelines of the American Psychiatric Association, which recommend medication for early stage depression. The researchers argue that the APA should change its guidelines for patients who have moderate to severe depression.
Cognitive therapy may work as well as antidepressants in the early phases of treating depression, a US study showed.
Cognitive therapy antidepressants depression,University of Pennsylvania American Psychiatric Association Lead researchers Robert DeRubeis, a Penn psychologist, and Steven Hollon at Vanderbilt guidelines Talk therapy can work as well as antidepressants in severely depressed people and it should also be used as a first line of defense, University of Pennsylvania researchers concluded in a study published Monday.
In a study of 240 patients, researchers found that cognitive therapy, a type of treatment that teaches patients to think more realistically, worked as well as a popular antidepressant for moderate to severe depression, University of Pennsylvania researchers concluded in a study published Monday.
However, the findings do not support the current American Psychiatric Association guidelines which recommend medication at that stage.
Lead researchers Robert DeRubeis, a Penn psychologist, and Steven Hollon at Vanderbilt argued that the American Psychiatric Association should change its treatment guidelines for moderate to severe depression.
The research, funded by a $4 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, was published in the Archives of General Psychiatry.