Time-tested therapies beat meds long term
Long-established therapies are more effective than antidepressants in the long term, suggests a meta-analysis reported in American Psychologist. A researcher analyzed more than 1,000 randomized studies of psychological treatment of depression. He found that therapies, regardless of the format (provided a human was involved in delivering them), are as effective as antidepressants in the short term but more effective in the long term. In addition, combined treatment is more effective than either alone in the short and long term. However, not all therapies are effective in every patient, and, in general, most therapies are somewhat less effective in children, adolescents, primary-care patients (compared with those who received specialized outpatient mental health treatment), and in patients with comorbid substance use disorder. Additionally, no therapy introduced over the past 50 years was found to be more effective than treatments that came before. Based on these findings, the researcher cautioned against adopting new therapies too quickly and recommended other innovations resulting in better outcomes, such as sequential treatments, increased session frequency, and better matching between patient need and therapist expertise.
DOI: 10.1037/amp0001387
American Psychological Association in FB
