Early treatment of depression may lower risk of future episodes of mood disorder
FRIDAY, Dec. 2, 2016 (HealthDay News) — For teens with depression, many could reap long-term benefits from psychological counseling, according to a study published online Nov. 30 in The Lancet Psychiatry.
The study included 465 teens in England who had been diagnosed with depression. The participants were randomly assigned to one of three treatments: cognitive behavior therapy; short-term psychoanalytic therapy; or a brief psychosocial intervention.
The researchers found that 70 percent of the teens improved to a significant extent no matter which approach they tried. In those who benefited from treatment, their depression symptoms had declined by 50 percent over the next year.
“This is very promising, and shows that at least two-thirds of teenagers may benefit from these psychiatric treatments, which in theory reduce the risk of recurrence,” study coauthor Peter Fonagy, Ph.D., a professor with the Anna Freud Centre and University College London, said in a journal news release.
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