Standard therapy for depression does not help many people

Main Category: Depression
Article Date: 01 Jun 2004 - 11:00 PDT

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A new study suggests that there are several people around who do not benefit from standard therapy for depression - their depression is still there two years later. According to the study, which looked at 1,200 patients from 46 American primary care centers, nearly 50% of patients who had 'at least minimally appropriate' depression treatment did not get any better.

What does Minimally Appropriate Care mean?

Minimally appropriate care means the patient has been treated for at least six months. During that time he/she has had four or more therapy sessions and has been on antidepressants for at least two months.

542 patients in this study had minimally appropriate care. 261 of them did not get better after two six month periods.

Dr. Catherine Sherbourne (team leader), RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, California, said to Reuters health "What we need is more research on the most effective way to treat this group."

You can read about this study in the journal General Hospital Psychiatry.

Those with persistent depression did seem to be getting more aggressive treatment, the team said. 15% were on prescriptions plus therapy for every three-six month period of treatment while only 3% did not respond to treatment.

It appears that the more persistent the depression is the harder the health professional will try.

Shebourne suggested that more combination of drugs and therapy, ongoing assessments by their own doctors and better referral to specialists is needed.

If the patient had suicidal thoughts, was unemployed and did not follow the medication instructions properly he/she was most likely not to get better.

Sherbourne reckons that suicidal thoughts are an indication of more severe depression. Unemployment could be because of the patient's inability to function properly in the outside world.