Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Depression

Summary: Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is one of the most evidence-based psychological interventions for the treatment of several psychiatric disorders, including depression. Combined treatment with CBT is significantly more effective than pharmacotherapy alone. Evidence also suggests that relapse rate of patient treated with CBT is lower in comparison to the patients treated with pharmacotherapy alone. Psychological interventions are effective and acceptable, and are most commonly used for mild-to-moderate depressive episodes; the use in subjects with severe personality disorders, psychosis or severe suicidality requires special expertise. The guideline makes recommendations for patient selection based on characteristics of patients and the nature of depressive illness. It also specifies disease severity criteria for selecting patients for monotherapy with CBT or pharmacotherapy, or combinations.

Authors: Manaswi Gautam, Adarsh Tripathi, Deepanjali Deshmukh, Manisha Gaur

Year of Publication: January-2020