Medication is usually the primary method of defence for most people when they suffer from anxiety or depression. However, this doesn’t work for all people. Only 1/3 receive total relief from medication alone. So what can the other 66% of people do?
A new piece of a study examined whether therapy can replace medication. The study selected a group of people with depression who were not getting better after using the medicine. They took half of these people and placed them on Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) with trained therapists. They found that those on Cognitive Behaviour Therapy were over 2.5 times more likely to get better than those on medication or other treatment. The researchers followed up after a year, and the results were more appealing.
Medication has been a reliable treatment for depression, but it can sometimes fail. There is now evidence that there’s hope in Cognitive Behaviour Therapy where medication has failed.
For more information comparing medication and therapy, click here.
By Dr. Syras Derksen
Winnipeg Psychologist
Reference
Wiles, N., Thomas, L., Abel, A., Ridgway, N., Turner, N., Campbell, J., Garland, A., Hollinghurst, S., Jerrom, B., Kessler, D., Kuyken, W., Morrison, J., Turner, K., Williams, C., Peters, T., Lewis, G. (2013). Cognitive behavioural therapy as an adjunct to pharmacotherapy for primary care-based patients with treatment-resistant depression: Results of the CoBalT randomized controlled trial. Lancet, 375-84.(http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23219570)