Cognitive Therapy Successful Against Depression

When provided by experienced psychotherapists, cognitive therapy may be as effective as antidepressant drugs in initial treatment of moderate to severe depression, a new study suggests.

The study, published in the April issue of the journal Archives of General Psychiatry, included 240 people with moderate to severe depression. One group of 60 people received cognitive therapy, another group of 120 received antidepressant medication (usually Paxil), and a third group of 60 received a placebo pill.

According to University of Pennsylvania researchers, patients in the cognitive therapy group attended two 50-minute sessions a week for the first four weeks of the study. They went to one or two sessions a week for the middle eight weeks and to one session a week for the final four weeks of the study.

Dr. John Grohol is the CEO and founder of Psych Central. He is an author, researcher and expert in mental health online, and has been writing about online behavior, mental health and psychology issues -- as well as the intersection of technology and human behavior -- since 1992. Dr. Grohol sits on the editorial board of the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking and is a founding board member and treasurer of the Society for Participatory Medicine.

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    Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 5 Apr 2005
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