Overview of Major Depressive Disorder and Psychological Treatments

Running head: MAJOR DEPRESSIVE DISORDER
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Major Depressive Disorder
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MAJOR DEPRESSIVE DISORDER 2
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Abstract
This literature review will present an overview of Major Depressive Disorder and then
summarize the available research concerning psychological treatments. Despite advancements in
modern day research and treatment incidences of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) are
continuing to increase. The individuals who are employed in the field of psychology will
undoubtedly treat people affected by MDD daily. The psychotherapy treatment preference is
usually determined by the training and education of the mental health professionals. In order for
mental health professionals to offer best care available, they ought to have adequate up-to-date
knowledge regarding the disorder including current treatment recommendations,
pathophysiology and presentation of the disease. The individual should choose the treatment of
his/her choice despite the educational background of the provider. Several psychological
methods can be used to treat MDD they include cognitive behavioral therapy, supportive
psychotherapy and interpersonal psychotherapy. This review will discuss the three psychological
methods mentioned above.
Overview of Major Depressive Disorder
Evidence of prevalence of MDD has been found around for several years. The Major
Depressive Disorder is a common health concern due to its high mortality rates, economic
impacts, prevalence and suicide risk in the society. Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a
common condition the causes an alteration in the moods (Schmaal et al, 2016). It causes serious
symptoms and signs like fatigue, significant weight gain or loss, diminished pleasure/interest and
psychomotor retardation or agitation that influences the way an individual think, feel and handles

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activities of daily life like working, eating or sleeping (Goldsmith et al, 2016). Symptoms and
signs of MDD should be present for at least two weeks for a person to be diagnosed with MDD.
MDD is a severe condition that should be adequately addressed since the feelings of despair and
hopelessness that are associated with it can lead to suicidal thoughts (Flory & Yehuda, 2015).
Cognitive behavioral therapy, supportive psychotherapy and interpersonal psychotherapy have
proven to be efficient for managing major depressive disorder. Interpersonal psychotherapy and
cognitive behavioral therapy are structured psychotherapies since they are preplanned with
definite aims, use defined psychological techniques and have specified time frame. Supportive
therapy is not a structured psychotherapy since it involves skills of the therapist (Bockting,
Hollon, Jarrett, Kuyken & Dobson, 2015).
Literature Review
MDD can be in form of both episodic (consisting of separate episodes) and chronic that
can last for 3 months or more. It comprises of initial stage that is the continuation and acute
phases, each lasts for approximately 3 months and the maintenance stage which approximately
lasts for 6 to 24 months. The aim of psychological treatments during the acute and continuation
stage is the elimination or reduction of symptoms associated with the MDD and restoring the
psychosocial functioning that is helping the affected person to return to the level of social and
psychological functioning experienced previously before developing MDD. The main purpose of
the psychological treatments during the maintenance stage is to help in preventing the recurring
of the symptoms associated with the MDD (Otte et al, 2016). Even thou antidepressants are the
mainstay for the treatment of MDD, the rates of adherence remains low since patients are
concerned about possible dependency and side effects linked with them. Additionally, surveys
have shown that many patients prefer psychological treatments as compared to treatments using

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antidepressants. Hence, psychological treatment methods have proven to provide additional or
alternative interventions for MDD (Linde et al, 2015).
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) mainly concentrates on assisting the patient to
become alert on how particular unfavorable automatic beliefs, expectations, attitudes and
thoughts give rise to feelings of sadness. An individual becomes aware of how the negative
patterns of thinking can be recognized and altered in order to decrease unhappiness and also deal
with painful or difficult past occurrences (Karyotaki et al, 2017). Interpersonal psychotherapy
concentrates in identification and resolutions of problems in maintaining and establishing
satisfying relationships. Such difficulties can include life changes, growing ease in social
situations and dealing with a loss. Supportive psychotherapy which is also referred to as non-
directive supportive psychotherapy mainly relies on the basic personal skills of the therapists
which include encouragement, empathic listening and reflection. The therapist does not use any
therapeutic strategy he/she is only involved in listening actively and offer support which focuses
on the patient’s concerns and problems. Supportive psychotherapy mostly emphases on the
current problems and concerns rather than long term difficulties. The general aim of the
supportive psychotherapy is to decrease the discomfort levels of the patient and help the patient
on how to cope and deal with the current situations (Newby, McKinnon, Kuyken, Gilbody &
Dalgleish, 2015).
Research questions
 What are the safety and effectiveness of supportive psychotherapy, interpersonal
psychotherapy and cognitive behavioral therapy in successfully improving the outcomes
of a patient with MDD?