Changing Your Antidepressant Medication
Changing Your Antidepressant Medication
Maybe it’s time for a change.
Research shows most people recover from depression best when they combine medication and an effective course of talk therapy, says Weissman, a professor of epidemiology and psychiatry at Columbia University. Weissman helped create Interpersonal Psychotherapy, a goal-oriented, term-limited therapy that helps patients examine triggers of depression and focus on them differently. It’s one of the few forms of talk therapy that has proven in scientific trials to be as effective in treating depression as drugs in many patients.
“Patient preference is important,” Weissman says. “The patient might say, ‘I don’t want to take any of those [drugs],’ or the patient might say, ‘I don’t want to talk about my problems with a stranger.’ In those cases, the path is pretty clear. But if a patient has [serious] signs and symptoms -- she’s not eating or sleeping well -- that’s usually an indication for medication.”
“Our understanding of these problems has grown, and we know that it’s pretty complicated,” she adds. “Everything is chemical, in a sense, but it’s triggered by life events. You usually can’t change somebody’s biology or genes immediately, but you can help them deal with their life events better. In some cases, if you improve a person’s mood, they get hopeful and more energetic and that helps with their relationships, their job, their whole outlook.”
Unhappy With Your Antidepressant?
Maybe it’s time for a change.
Consider Talk Therapy for Depression
Research shows most people recover from depression best when they combine medication and an effective course of talk therapy, says Weissman, a professor of epidemiology and psychiatry at Columbia University. Weissman helped create Interpersonal Psychotherapy, a goal-oriented, term-limited therapy that helps patients examine triggers of depression and focus on them differently. It’s one of the few forms of talk therapy that has proven in scientific trials to be as effective in treating depression as drugs in many patients.
Assess Your Comfort Level With Depression Treatments
“Patient preference is important,” Weissman says. “The patient might say, ‘I don’t want to take any of those [drugs],’ or the patient might say, ‘I don’t want to talk about my problems with a stranger.’ In those cases, the path is pretty clear. But if a patient has [serious] signs and symptoms -- she’s not eating or sleeping well -- that’s usually an indication for medication.”
“Our understanding of these problems has grown, and we know that it’s pretty complicated,” she adds. “Everything is chemical, in a sense, but it’s triggered by life events. You usually can’t change somebody’s biology or genes immediately, but you can help them deal with their life events better. In some cases, if you improve a person’s mood, they get hopeful and more energetic and that helps with their relationships, their job, their whole outlook.”
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