New ‘talking cure’ for depression could be better than CBT

There’s a new ‘talking cure’ for depression, and it could be more effective than the current Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). 

Augmented Depression Therapy (ADepT) focuses on a depressed person’s apathy and inability to find pleasure in life and tries to boost feelings of wellbeing.

CBT is considered the best non-drug approach for depression, but ADepT was more effective in a small trial involving 82 people with moderate to severe depression.

Researchers from the University of Exeter are confident it could have effects that last longer than CBT.  Only around 60 percent of people who use CBT say their depression has reversed and around half of these fall back into depression within two years.

The researchers hope that ADepT’s emphasis on wellbeing and positive thinking will give people skills that give them many more years free of depression.

In the trial, the patients had 20 sessions of ADepT or CBT, and their level of depression was assessed for up to 18 months afterwards.

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