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Talk therapy, without the use of antidepressant
medication, can help boost depression, but no one form of therapy is
better than the others, a new Swiss study finds.
Jürgen Barth from the University of Bern in Switzerland led a research
team to analyze data from 198 published studies involving more than
15,000 patients. Patients received one of seven types of therapy:
interpersonal psychotherapy, behavioral activation, cognitive behavioral
therapy, problem solving therapy, psychodynamic therapy, social skills
training and supportive counseling.
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Most of the studies in the review (70 percent) tested
cognitive-behavioral therapy – which focuses on a patient’s current
negative beliefs, evaluates how they affect current and future behavior,
and attempts to restructure the beliefs and change the outlook.
Another approach is interpersonal psychotherapy, which involves a highly
structured, short-term program to focus on interpersonal issues.
Behavioral activation, however, seeks to increase positive interactions
between the patient and his or her environment, the researchers
explained.
Problem solving therapy, on the other hand, aims to define a patient’s
problems, propose multiple solutions for each problem, and then select,
implement, and evaluate the best solution. Psychodynamic therapy focuses
on past unresolved conflicts and relationships and the impact they have
on a patient’s current situation.
Social skills therapy teaches patients skills that help to build and
maintain healthy relationships based on honesty and respect, the
researchers explained. Supportive counseling is a more general therapy
that aims to get patients to talk about their experiences and emotions
and to offer empathy without suggesting solutions or teaching new
skills.
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In the study, the researchers compared each of the therapies with each
other and with a control group and combined the results.
The authors found that all seven therapies reduced depression more than
the control group, but they found no significant differences between the
different types of therapy.
They also found that the therapies worked equally well for different
patient groups with depression, such as for younger and older patients
and for mothers who had depression after having given birth.
Furthermore, the authors found no substantial differences when comparing
individual with group therapy or with face-to-face therapy compared with
Internet-based interactions between therapist and patient.
“Overall, we found that different psychotherapeutic interventions for
depression have comparable, moderate-to-large effects,” the authors
wrote.\ |