TY - JOUR
T1 - When Is Pharmacotherapy Initiation Beneficial in Patients With Depressive Disorders?
AU - Prescott, Drew
AU - White, Nicole D.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2017, © 2017 The Author(s).
Copyright:
Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2017/5
Y1 - 2017/5
N2 - Psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy are the most common treatments utilized in patients diagnosed with depressive disorders. Their efficacy in remitting symptoms and restoring patients to baseline functioning has been established throughout the literature; however, questions still remain on whether pharmacotherapy is necessary in all patients and if used, when initiation is most beneficial. Current guidelines recommend initiating only psychotherapy in patients with mild depression and advancing to pharmacotherapy as appropriate. Evidence-based literature has shown pharmacotherapy to have a significant and independent treatment effect in depressive disorders compared with psychotherapy. Combination treatment with both modalities has also shown to be beneficial for remitting depressive symptoms in this patient population. Therefore, treatment should be individualized for each specific patient based on severity of disease, history of depression and response to treatment, cost of treatment, and patient preference.
AB - Psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy are the most common treatments utilized in patients diagnosed with depressive disorders. Their efficacy in remitting symptoms and restoring patients to baseline functioning has been established throughout the literature; however, questions still remain on whether pharmacotherapy is necessary in all patients and if used, when initiation is most beneficial. Current guidelines recommend initiating only psychotherapy in patients with mild depression and advancing to pharmacotherapy as appropriate. Evidence-based literature has shown pharmacotherapy to have a significant and independent treatment effect in depressive disorders compared with psychotherapy. Combination treatment with both modalities has also shown to be beneficial for remitting depressive symptoms in this patient population. Therefore, treatment should be individualized for each specific patient based on severity of disease, history of depression and response to treatment, cost of treatment, and patient preference.
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U2 - 10.1177/1559827616686051
DO - 10.1177/1559827616686051
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85019192770
VL - 11
SP - 220
EP - 222
JO - American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine
JF - American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine
SN - 1559-8276
IS - 3
ER -