Switching depression treatment can help

Depressed individuals who fail to respond to initial treatment with an antidepressant or psychotherapy may do better if they are switched to the alternative treatment, new study findings suggest.

“Surprisingly few studies have evaluated the role of medication following nonresponse to psychotherapy,” the authors of the study say and “none has evaluated the efficacy of psychotherapy following nonresponse to medication.”

Dr. Alan F. Schatzberg, at Stanford University in California, and associates followed 140 patients who failed initial treatment with the antidepressant Serzone (nefazodone) or cognitive behavioral psychotherapy. Thirty patients dropped out of the study. Patients were crossed over from Serzone to psychotherapy or from psychotherapy to Serzone.

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.

Like this author?
Catch up on other posts by John M. Grohol, PsyD (or subscribe to their feed).

Comments

This post currently has 2 comments. You can read the comments or leave your own thoughts on our new comments page.

Trackbacks

No trackbacks yet to this post.

    Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 9 May 2005
    Published on PsychCentral.com. All rights reserved.