Treating depression

• treating depression

  Cognitive behaviour therapy:

  This is the most common psychological treatment for depression and other mental health issues. It also includes behavioural elements.

  Cognitive element: CBT begins with an assessment, where they work together to figure out the problems. They identify goals and a plan to achieve them.

  Behavioural element: CBT involves putting more effective behaviours in place of negative and irrational thoughts.
• treating depression

  Beck's cognitive therapy:

  The idea of CBT is to challenge the negative triad. The client may be set homework to help them test the reality of their negative beliefs.

  Ellis' rational emotive behaviour therapy:

  REBT extends the ABC model to ABCDE. D stands for dispute and E for effect. The central technique is to identify and dispute negative beliefs.
• treating depression

  Behavioural activation:

  As individuals become depressed, they tend to increasingly avoid difficult situations and become isolated. The goal of behavioural activation is to work with depressed individuals to gradually decrease their avoidance and isolation.
• treating depression

  [S]: there is a large body of evidence. A study compared CBT to antidepressants. After 36 weeks, all groups were >80% improved. This showed that CBT was just as effective as medication, and more so when used together. CBT treatment is fairly brief, so is cost-effective.
• treating depression

  [L]: lack of effectiveness for severe cases and for clients with learning disabilities. In some cases, clients are unable to motivate themselves to engage with CBT. Also, the complex rational thinking is unsuitable for clients with learning difficulties. This means that CBT is only effective for a specific range of people.

  [S]: recent evidence to challenge this. A review found that antidepressants are as effective as CBT, and when used appropriately, CBT is effective for people with learning difficulties. This means that CBT is more effective for a wider range of people.
• treating depression

  [L]: there are high relapse rates. Some recent studies suggest that the long-term benefits are not as good as had been assumed. In a study, 42% of clients relapsed within six months. This means that CBT may need to be repeated.