Posted by SLS on April 6, 2006, at 17:38:29
In reply to Re: Drugs versus Psychotherapy - Backlash? » SLS, posted by linkadge on April 6, 2006, at 16:04:11
> I think that psychotherapy has always been as effective for depression as medications.
How do you define "depression"?
> The reason we are seeing some of these results now is because of recent medication backlashes.
It is disappointing to believe that results should depend on the popularity of a particular idea.
> Drug companies only wanted us to believe that depression could be fixed with drugs, but there are other factors that people are considering nowadays.
Probably, but not all investigations are funded by drug companies. I don't think there is a conspiracy between drug companies and people involved in pure research. Pure research demonstrates physiological differences in the brains of healthy versus depressed individuals.
> Another thing to consider is that with psychotherapy most people see only one psychotherapist and if that doesn't work they give up.
I didn't. I went from therapist to therapist without success until I properly identified myself as having an affective disorder.
> But thats not the way people deal with medications. Ie, if one antidepressant fails it is customary to try a zillion others till one works.
It was when one did work that I became convinced of the biological nature of my particular case. Actually, I was convinced prior to that because I was an ultra-rapid cycler. Once I read "Mood Swing" by Ronald Fieve, MD, I was able to observe and interpret my cycling; 3 days up, 8 days down. The switch from one state to the other took place within the time period of 30-45 minutes. It was quite dramatic and regular. I learned that I could keep a social calendar based upon the 11-day cycle.
> So I don't think its really a fair comparison.
What is fair is to be able to identify in advance who will respond to biological interventions and who will respond to psychological interventions. Of course, to combine the two offers an enhanced chance of successful treatment and prophylaxis.
Perhaps the reason we don't agree here is that we see depression from the perspectives of dissimilar illnesses. My depression is the result of bipolar disorder. Perhaps there is a bipolar spectrum affective disorder that is driven by biological perterbations, one that is most treatable using biological interventions; depressions that do not belong to this spectrum are treatable using psychotherapy. The problem would then lie in the inability to tell the difference. I think a good psychiatrist can, though.
Just a thought.
- Scott
poster:SLS
thread:629584
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060403/msgs/629778.html