DRUGS NOT THE ONLY ANSWER FOR DEPRESSION

According to a post at EarthTimes.org, a new study has found that cognitive therapy can be just as effective as drugs in dealing with depression.

GO FIGURE!

Here's a clip:

The study by University of Pennsylvania and Vanderbilt University researchers raises doubts about the guidelines by American Psychiatric Association, which stipulate that antidepressant medicines are required to treat moderate to severe depression.

“On the whole, these findings do not support the current American Psychiatric Association guidelines, based on the Treatment of Depression Collaborative Research Program (TDCRP), that most patients require medication,” the report said, while adding that cognitive therapy could be as ‘effective as medications, even among more severely depressed outpatients, at least when provided by experienced cognitive therapists’.

Of course, drugs may be easier for many than cognitive therapy, but for many others drugs bring difficult side effects that can, in some cases, make them worse off in other ways than they were before the drugs.

Personally, and I'm just a guy talking here, I feel that we should never think of just one, single solution for any problem. While the world generally works in simple ways, there are a lot of gray areas, nonetheless. What works for some, might not work for everyone. I have a friend who takes prescription drugs to manage her ADD. She swears by these drugs. However, some ADD can be dealt with drug-free--as can depression, we now know. So, don't assume that one way is the best/only way.

Often times, one size doesn't fit all.

I'm Marshal Brodeen.

No, I'm not--I'm ThePete.