12 Question: My son (he’s 23) has stopped taking his antidepressant because he says it makes him tired all the time. He says if he sees a therapist he doesn’t need the meds. What do you say?
Dr. Hibberd's answer:
The age of therapy alone for depression management has long past. I view depression as a neuro-hormonal imbalance that can be as effectively treated as any other chronic hormone deficiency.
Current treatment protocols call for treating depression into remission, then using preventive strategies — such as combination drug, cognitive behavioral therapy or other techniques (relaxation, behavior modification, biofeedback) — to reduce the risk of relapse.
Clearly the medication prescribed for your son is unsuitable for long-term maintenance, and other options need to be explored with your psychiatrist. Be sure the therapist he sees has prescribing authority to use all psychoactive medications with no restrictions of conditions.
Correct medication treatment for depression will usually provide better long-term better results than therapy alone. The prospect of life-long psychotherapy without medication is unreasonable, and likely unnecessary for most of us.
But some cases of recurrent depression may respond to cognitive behavioral therapy. CBT is administered by specially trained psychotherapists, usually psychiatrists, and can decrease relapses into depression. But is not intended to be the sole avenue for initial treatment pf depression.
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