AO3 treating depression

• research support


  Ellis - claimed 90% success rate for REBT, average of 27 sessions to complete the treatment.

  Cuijpers et al - review of 75 studies found that CBT was superior to none.

  Ellis- recognised that it is not always effective, some clients didn’t put their revised beliefs into action.

  Kuyken and Tsivrikos - therapist competency explains a significant amount of the variation in CBT outcomes
• individual differences


  Elkin et al - CBT not suitable for individuals with high levels of emotional beliefs that are rigid and hesitant to change.

  Simons et al - less suitable in situations where high levels of stress reflect on realistic stressors in the person’s life that therapy cannot resolve.

  Ellis - some people just want to share their story with a therapist without the cognitive effort associated with recovery
• support for behavioural activation

  Babyak et al - 156 adult volunteers diagnosed with major depressive disorder. randomly assign to 4 month course of aerobic exercise, drug treatment, or a combination of the two.

  clients in all three groups exhibited significant improvement at the end of the 4 months. six months after, exercise groups had significantly lower relapse rates than medicine group.
• alternative treatments


  antidepressants such as SSRI. drug therapies require less effort from client and can be used i conjunction with psychotherapy like CBT.

  useful because distressed client may be unable to focus on the demands of CBT. drug treatment could enable them to cope better
• “Dodo bird effect”


  Rosenzweig - Dodo bird in ‘Alice in Wonderland’ who suggested everyone should win.

  lack of differences between therapies because they have common factors; talking to a sympathetic person and having an opportunity to express one’s thoughts (Sloane et al)