Counselling as effective as antidepressants

Prescription for antidepressants have doubled over the past decade, raking in billions of dollars for the pharmaceutical industry – but the drugs work only as well as counselling, which is a much cheaper option.

The drugs and cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) – often referred to as a ‘talking cure’ – work equally well in fighting major depression. There’s no difference in outcomes whether the patient is given an antidepressant or has counselling, say researchers from the University of North Carolina.
They looked at 11 previously published studies that had explored the use of second-generation antidepressants – mainly SSRI’s (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) – with or without the use of CBT in 1,511 patients suffering from major depression.
Although each was as effective as the other, neither approach was very effective, and a similar number of patients discontinued treatment, whether with the drugs –usually because of the side effects – or the talking therapy. (BMU, 2015; 351:h6019)