Cognitive therapy key to tackling depression

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By Communications Staff
Monday, December 14, 2009
New research from The University of Western Ontario shows why people suffering from depression may have a far greater hope of finding lasting relief by receiving cognitive therapy, rather than simply taking antidepressants.
 
Previous research has demonstrated that individuals treated with cognitive therapy have approximately half of the relapse rate of those treated with medication alone.  
Research published by Western’s David Dozois provides clues as to why this might be the case.
 
He found cognitive therapy actually reorganizes and changes the way thoughts are processed.  
 
The findings are being released in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, published by the American Psychological Association. Dozois is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at Western. He is cross-appointed with the Department of Psychiatry at the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry and he is also a practicing clinical psychologist.
 
Dozois explains that the way in which we perceive ourselves and characterize our interactions with others is usually based on core beliefs that have been ingrained since childhood.
 
For example, we may believe, “I am a good and likeable person,” or “I am useless and no one will ever care for me,” or perhaps, “As long as I am approved and accepted by everyone, then I am valuable.”
 
People receiving cognitive therapy learn skills that allow them to dig deeper into understanding thinking patterns that directly lead to their distorted perception of themselves, and furthermore, identifying how that distorted perception was established.
 
“Cognitive therapy is unique in that it reorganizes how information is stored in our representations of self, and how it is accessed,” says Dozois. “Reorganization through cognitive therapy allows individuals to make logical judgments on self-worth and relationships, and form appropriate emotional responses.”
 
He adds we can carry distorted core belief systems through our lives and the vulnerability they cause may not really surface until something big triggers it, such as a significant failure or loss. Then depression can hit very hard.
 
“Anti-depressants help, and the depression may lift, but our research shows that cognitive therapy actually makes changes that go far deeper and give people tools to change thinking,” says Dozois. “This means the chance of falling into another depression in the future may be far less. In other words, anti-depressants are effective at suppressing symptoms, but it is cognitive therapy that offers curative benefits.”  
 
Dozois is a member of the Board of Directors of the Canadian Psychological Association and his research and clinical work have been in the spotlight this year. He received the Ontario Mental Health Foundation’s Dr. John Dewan Prize, presented to an outstanding researcher, and was named Psychological Service Provider of the year by the London Regional Psychological Association.

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