Recent non-medication trials of interpersonal psychotherapy for depression.
Interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) is a time-limited treatment described in a manual and tested in numerous clinical trials, with and without medication. Four recent clinical trials are reviewed in situations where medication as a first-line treatment for depression was not feasible (pregnancy, post partum, adolescence and in a developing country). The results show the efficacy of 12-16 wk of IPT compared to treatment as usual or no treatment in reducing depressive symptoms. The therapists providing the treatment included psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers as well as non-mental-health workers. We do not know if these patients might have done even better with medication, but each study showed a significant remission of symptoms of patients in IPT compared to controls. The use of efficacious, time-limited psychotherapy, which can be administered by non-medical personnel can be economical. An obstacle to providing evidence-based psychotherapies is the paucity of practitioners trained in them. Until the gap between training in psychotherapy and the research evidence in psychotherapy is bridged in training programmes, it will be difficult to provide patients with these treatments.
Weissman
Myrna M
MM
College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, and Department of Clinical and Genetic Epidemiology, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY 10034, USA. mmw3@columbia.edu
D000293:Adolescent; D000296:Adolescent Psychiatry / Q000379:methods*; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic / Q000379:methods; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D019052:Depression, Postpartum / Q000628:therapy; D003906:Developing Countries; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D008605:Mental Health Services; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000628:therapy; D011614:Psychotherapy, Brief / Q000379:methods*; D011615:Psychotherapy, Group / Q000379:methods*; D012107:Research Design; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014454:Uganda