Efficacy of CBT and Pharmacotherapy for Depressive Disorders: A Review

This literature review critically examines the effectiveness of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and pharmacotherapy in treating depression. It includes a table of included studies, summarizing key findings, limitations, and methodologies from various research articles. The review covers topics such as the long-term effectiveness of CBT as an adjunct to pharmacotherapy, the efficiency of CBT in treating depression, a comparison of pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy, and the potential for improving CBT with pharmacotherapy. It also discusses the advantages and disadvantages of using antidepressants and compares psychotherapy with medication for treating anxiety and depression. The review synthesizes findings from multiple studies, highlighting strengths and limitations, and provides a rationale for decision-making based on the evidence, aiming to inform healthcare practices in the Australian setting.

Table of Included studies
Author
and Year
Title/ Keywords Objectives Methods Sample Key Findings Limitations
Wiles et.al,
2016
Long-term effectiveness
and cost-effectiveness
of cognitive behavioural
therapy as an adjunct to
pharmacotherapy for
treatment-resistant
depression in primary
care.
To find if CBT is useful
clinically for depression
that resisted treatment.
To find out if CBT can
help reduce costs for
depression that is
treatment refractory.
Carried out in
three UK
centres and
chose 73
general
practices to do
a random
controlled
clinical trial in
each.
The study chose
people between
the age of 18 to
75 who had taken
antidepressants
for a minimum of
six weeks but
still showed signs
of depression.
There was long-
term cost-
effectiveness of
combining CBT
with
pharmacotherapy
to treat
treatment-
resistant
depression.
There was lack
of resources to
enable face to
face answering
of questionaries.
Most of the
participants were
male making the
study
unbalanced.
Halverson,
2018
Cognitive Behavioral
Therapy for
Depression Medication.
To find out the efficiency
of using CBT for treating
depression
Searching for
data on clinical
trials where
CBT was used
to treat
depression.
Evaluation of the
data gathered on
the use of CBT to
treat depression
Using both
medication and
CBT to treat
depression has
advantages as
they work well
There are few
trials which
study the long-
term benefits of
CBT to treat
depression.

together.
Huhn,
2014
The Efficacy of
pharmacotherapy and
psychotherapy in
treating psychiatric
disorders in adults.
To analyse how effective
pharmacotherapy and
psychotherapy is in the
treatment of psychiatric
disorders.
To make a comparison of
the quality of clinical trials
for psychotherapy and
pharmacotherapy.
Searching the
databases of
Cochrane
Library,
PsycINFO, and
Medline to
gather data on
clinical trials.
The evaluation of
852 individual
clinical trials
carried out in 21
psychiatric
disorders.
A lot of research
exists on the
effectiveness of
the treatments on
their own, but
there is nothing
on a
combination of
the procedures.
There were few
data on
medications
because the
majority were
outdated.
Tolin, 2017 Can Cognitive
Behavioural Therapy
for Anxiety and
Depression Be
Improved with
Pharmacotherapy? A
Meta-analysis.
To find out if CBT can be
improved using
pharmacotherapy.
Searching data
on trials done
with a
combination of
CBT and
pharmacothera
py
Analysed data
from the chosen
controlled
clinical trials
where
pharmacology
was used in
addition to CBT
to treat patients
with anxiety and
depression
There are no
consistent
findings to show
that
pharmacotherapy
improves CBT.
Further studies
need to be done.
Little data is
available on the
subject to get
proper answers.

disorders.
Depression
Is Real,
2018
Advantages and
disadvantages of taking
anti-depressants
To find out the pros and
cons of taking
antidepressants
Analysis of
data gathered
from patients
prescribed with
antidepressants
Feedback from
patients who take
antidepressants
and from doctors
who prescribe it.
The pros of
taking
antidepressants
outweigh the
cons.
The medication
takes too long to
take effect
therefore many
patients stopped
taking it because
they were
impatient.
Rosen,
2017
Psychotherapy or
Medication – Which
Should You Choose?
To help patients decide
what course of treatment
to use to treat depression
Analysis of
data gathered
by Centre for
anxiety
disorder.
Feedback from
patients who
were treated by
Dr Rosen.
Data from
doctors who treat
depression.
Combination of
both procedures
is the best
method.
A lot of TV ads
exists showing
advantages of
using medication
thus many
people will use
this not knowing
their options.

Links to the articles used.
http://depressionisreal.com/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-taking-anti-depressants/
http://centerforanxietydisorders.com/choose-psychotherapy-medication/
https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/2094696-medication