Is medication or therapy more effective for depression?
Both
medication and therapy are effective treatments for depression. The
treatment choice depends on the severity of the episode. Mild depression
is often effectively treated with cognitive–behavioral therapy or
interpersonal therapy alone, for example. More severe forms of depression
typically require the adjunctive use of medication. Some individuals only
take medication, but studies have shown that the combination of
medication with therapy can be the most effective. When taking
medication, it is usually best to have some form of therapy at some point
during the treatment in order to address the precipitating stressors.
This would help develop coping mechanisms and problem-solving abilities
and reduces the risk of recurrence under stressful circumstances in the
future.
The most important factor in determining a positive outcome from either
modality is that both forms of treatment require commitment to the
treatment in order for it to work. Therapy requires regular attendance to
appointments, communication with the therapist during the session, and
for some forms of therapy, work on assignments between sessions. The
process of therapy is not easy. It can be anxiety provoking, and one does
not necessarily feel relief after each individual session. Relief comes
over time with hard work on the issues. It may feel easier to cancel
sessions or to terminate treatment prematurely, but then the therapy is
not given a chance to be effective.
As for medication, its use requires daily compliance and regular
communication with your doctor. It is often difficult for many people to
remember to take a medication daily, twice a day, or more. Doses may be
skipped. Missing doses regularly results in reduced efficacy of the
medication. Sometimes a medication does not work right away. It becomes
frustrating, and the medication treatment is abandoned prematurely.
Oftentimes, when a person has a list of "ineffective" medication, many of
them did not get adequate trials.
You may wish to try therapy alone first, and depending on progress,
consider use of medication later. This route may be appropriate for
milder cases of depression. Again, the more severe the depression, the
more likely medication will also be necessary, as improvement in symptoms
usually occurs more quickly with medication. Persistent, unremitting
depression can be harmful because of its adverse physical and emotional
effects as well as its associated risk for suicide. Therefore, the
decision to initiate or hold off on medication needs to be made very
carefully. Again, it is optimal to be in therapy while on medication, as
the therapy will provide the skills needed to manage stressful situations
in the future and will hopefully deter future depressive episodes.
