Now You’re Talking

by Melanie Moran 783 views No Comment Print  E-mail

They say that talk is good for the soul. Turns out that it may be the best long-term solution for many cases of depression, as well. Ongoing research by Steve Hollon, professor of psychology, and Richard Shelton, MD, James G. Blakemore Research Professor of Psychiatry at Vanderbilt Medical Center, shows that cognitive behavioral therapy could actually be a solution for depression. 

Currently, the gold standard for treating moderate to severe depression is a combination of medication and psychotherapy. Antidepressant medication generally provides symptom relief, but cognitive therapy seems to have longer lasting results. Cognitive therapy is a form of talk therapy that teaches patients to recognize what triggers their depressions and to develop more effective, positive reactions to those situations.  

While he respects the value of medication, Hollon prefers psychotherapy for depression. “I believe cognitive psychotherapy solves the underlying causes of depression,” he says, and therefore, provides better lasting results. Since more than 32 million Americans are expected to develop depression sometime in their lives, finding effective treatments is essential. The researchers’ groundbreaking work is supported by grants from the National Institute of Health and the National Institute for Mental Health.

Initial research conducted at Vanderbilt and the University of Pennsylvania compared cognitive therapy to antidepressants. Over the 16-week study, patients took slightly longer to respond to the cognitive therapy, but it had an enduring effect on them. Recent follow-up studies show that patients treated with cognitive therapy tended to have fewer instances of relapse than those treated with medication.