Effect of Cognitive Therapy on Moderate Depression

Abstract

Introduction: Around the world, depression is known to be the leading cause of non fatal health loss, accounting for 7.5% of years spent in disability.As per NHMS, in 2015 over 45 million Indian populations lived with depression. A treatment gap of 87.2–95.7% was also reported, which is a serious concern. Effectiveness of treatment is another serious concern which is also known to be a highly probable factor contributing to the treatment gaps. Therefore, it is necessary to fill up the gaps that exist in the effectiveness of therapeutic approaches including psychotherapies. Patients can alter the erroneous beliefs that cause unfavorable moods and behaviors through the use of cognitive therapy (CT), a form of therapy. In view of the eclectic approach and progression, soon after its introduction, CT was combined with many behavioral techniques, though homework was an integral part since the beginning; and Cognitive-behavioral approaches (CBT) started trending more. CBT is definitely efficacious in successfully relieving the sufferers of depression but needs to focus on both behavior and cognition. The present study focused on exploring the effect of cognitive therapy as a single approach of focusing only on the cognition in treating depression. Objectives: To analyze the effect of cognitive therapy on patients with moderate depression. Method: A purposive sample of 30 patients in the age range of 20 to 45 years. These patients were being assessed by using ICD 10 criteria for diagnosis in clinics of Haryana. The patients with moderate depression who were found to be suitable for cognitive modifications were selected for an eight-session CT intervention. A pre and post-assessment was done using Beck’s depression inventory (BDI).  All patients were on low doses of antidepressant medications. Results and discussion: The pre-post assessment scores on Beck’s depression inventory were analyzed by using t-test for paired samples and CT was found to be significantly effective in reducing depression (t= 20.571, P= .000).