TALK ABOUT IT | Depressed patients who received telephone therapy in addition to antidepressant medication were found to be less depressed after 18 months than those who received antidepressants alone, according to a report to be published in this month’s Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology.
The study of 393 patients enrolled with Group Health, a Seattle-based HMO, follows up on a 2004 report on the same patients that examined moods six months after therapy. At 18 months, 77 percent of those receiving telephone therapy reported that their depression was either “much” or “very much” improved, compared with 63 percent of those receiving antidepressants alone.
“The nature of depression is you avoid situations that can actually improve your mood,” said clinical psychologist Evette Ludman, lead author of the study. The biggest challenge was tracking down reticent, depressed subjects. “We kept calling until people would talk with us,” she says. | Los Angeles Times
