The title of this 2008 study says it all: “Faster remission of chronic depression with combined psychotherapy and medication than with each therapy alone”. The study of over 650 patients with depression compared medication treatment alone to medication treatment plus psychotherapy. The results were clear: patients on medication and therapy recovered from chronic (meaning repeated episodes of) depression faster than patients on either treatment alone.

Many studies over the years have identified both cognitive-behavioral therapy and interpersonal psychotherapy as being just as effective as medication in reducing symptoms of moderate depression. Other studies have shown that the improvements gained in therapy alone can last longer than the improvements gained from medication alone.

In my opinion, it’s the minority of cases that improve on just medication. The job of antidepressant medicine is to reduce the most immediate and troubling symptoms that interfere with your ability to function at home, at work, and socially: low energy, loss of interests, poor concentration, crying spells, hopelessness, and suicidal thoughts. The job of therapy is to identify the life issues that have led to depression and make changes in how you deal with those issues so they stop depressing you.

Therefore, we have two powerful and effective tools to treat depression. Use them together and you are likely to get the fastest and most enduring relief from your symptoms. At Columbia Counseling Center, the psychiatrists and therapists are all under one roof and we work with each other to ensure that your treatment is coordinated and efficient.

Written by: Dennis Glick, M.D. Board Certified Psychiatrist at The Columbia Counseling Center