Depression Therapy By Phone May Be Helpful

Lasting Improvement Seen In 18-Month Study

(WebMD)  Getting depression therapy by phone may have lasting benefits, a new study shows.

The study included 393 moderately depressed adults who had just started taking antidepressants.

Participants who got 10 to 12 phone therapy sessions over a year, in addition to standard depression care, showed a greater improvement in depression symptoms than those who only got standard depression care with no phone therapy. Those benefits lasted at least six months after the last phone therapy session.

The findings appear in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology.

The study included depression patients enrolled in Group Health Cooperative,
a Seattle-area health maintenance organization (HMO). They were about 44 years old, on average; most were white women.

The patients were split into two groups. One group got depression therapy by phone for a year, in addition to standard depression treatment. The other group got standard depression care without phone therapy.

Patients in the phone therapy group got 10-12 sessions of cognitive behavioral therapy over the course of a year from specially trained counselors with master's degrees in psychology.

The patients and counselors never met in person. The counselors called the patients to set up the phone therapy appointments. Patients in both groups were allowed to get in-person counseling, but few did so.

The phone therapy sessions were designed to help patients defuse negative thoughts, cultivate pleasant and rewarding activities, and manage their depression symptoms.

The researchers — who work for Group Health Cooperative — interviewed all patients in both groups periodically over a year and a half to gauge their depression symptoms.

The follow-up period ended six months after the phone therapy sessions ended. Even so, patients in the phone therapy group reported a greater improvement in their depression symptoms, compared with those in the standard care group, at the end of the follow-up period.

Those findings follow an earlier report from the researchers showing greater short-term improvement in depression symptoms with phone therapy.

"We were surprised at how well the positive effects were maintained over time," researcher Everette Ludman, Ph.D., says in a Group Health Cooperative news release. Ludman is a senior research associate with the Group Health Center for Health Studies.

Patients in the phone therapy group were more likely to take their antidepressants. But that didn't completely explain the benefits seen in the phone therapy group, note the researchers.

The study doesn't show what aspects of the phone therapy sessions were most helpful.

Ludman and colleagues aren't suggesting phone therapy as a substitute for other depression treatment. But the researchers say adding phone therapy to depression treatment could help some patients, especially since many patients don't get in-person
counseling.

[anopinion1]

yea for sure man!!!!

also depression (in my opinion) has to do with a persons outlook on life, their beliefs, and their goals. It has nothing to do with a chemical imbalance. If these phone(or in person) talks can get to the root of the problems the person is having then this is way more benefical then drugs.

If you can't deal with your problems head on and rely on doctors drugs or alachol/illigal drugs then you have a problem. Yes the antidepressants can help a person get started and thru the really hard times but in the end the effectiveness is the persons mind set and not the drugs themselves that performed the miracle.

[sjw1253]

re: anopinion1...

Did you actually read the article? All of the patients were on antidepressants. Chemical imbalances have been verified in many studies as the cause of depression. The article does not state the patients lack %u201Cchemical%u201D imbalances.

The main weakness in reporting articles such as this is they do not offer references to the study cited, do not offer the authors, & other vital facts that provide adequate data for an unbiased reader to come to an educated conclusion by using full critical thinking. An opinion on a topic such as this requires more than an opinion that is based on a bias from what is known in your own little world.

There are many "studies" performed that provide data that is reputed later due to fallacies in the methodology and potential biases of the persons conducting the study.

[sjw1253]

re: anopinion1 part 2...

A positive outlook is key - but depression is not that simple. It would be great if people would open their minds to the fact that no two people are alike. There are so many variables that affect people differently.

Depression is a validated form of mental illness. If you want to form an educated opinion - read the history of Ivan IV %u2013 the Terrible...

You will learn that centuries later %u2013 the %u201Cterrible%u201D was determined a result of mercury poisoning. There are so many chemicals and organic causes of mental illness. Diseases, toxins, tumors %u2013 just to mention a few.

It is time for people to open their minds, realize just because you get through what you think is %u201Cdepression%u201D that it is not the same as what others may experience. It is time to look outside of yourself & realize there is so much more to our machines that we call our bodies...