treating depression

• Research found that CBT was as effective as antidepressants in treating depression. They used 327 adolescents with a diagnosis of depression and compared the effectiveness of CBT, antidepressants and a combination of the both.

  After 36 weeks, 81% of the antidepressant group, 81% of the CBT and 86% of the combination group had significantly improved.

  This demonstrates the effectiveness of CBT in treating depression and also suggests that it works well alongside medication as a combination therapy and this may even be more effective than just one or the other.
• CBT could be ineffective for more severe cases. This is because CBT requires motivation however this may not be present in the more severe cases as they may find it hard to engage with the work.

  This suggests that CBT may only be appropriate for a specific range of clients.
• However, some research evidence challenges the idea that CBT is unsuitable for severe depression.

  Lewis & Lewis (2016) concluded that CBT was as effective as antidepressants and behavioural therapy for severe depression.

  These findings suggest that CBT may in fact be suitable for a wider range of people than was initially thought.