ABBREVIATED COGNITIVE THERAPY FOR DEPRESSION - A PILOT-STUDY IN PRIMARY-CARE

There is increasing interest in the use of psychological therapies for depressive disorder in primary care. This paper describes a pilot stu dy using an abbreviated form of cognitive therapy as an adjunctive tre atment for major depressive disorder in primary care. Seven primary ca re patients received an abbreviated cognitive intervention package in addition to their usual treatment. The patients were assessed before a nd after intervention using observer and self rating measures of depre ssion and their subjective evaluation of the intervention was sought. Four of the subjects showed 50% change in depression ratings at the en d of the intervention and only one of the group was taking antidepress ant medication. The intervention was generally well accepted by patien ts and feasible within the time constraints. The initial results are e ncouraging and a randomized control trial of this brief intervention i s now underway.