Internet-based CBT effective for treating severe depression
17 December, 2018
New research finds that cognitive behavioral therapy sessions delivered via an app can effectively treat various forms of depression, including a severe form of the condition.
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a short-term form of therapy that helps change people's thought patterns.
The technique can successfully treat depression, anxiety and panic disorder, bipolar, substance use disorders, and many other mental health conditions.
In recent decades, more and more studies have been pointing to the benefits of Internet-based CBT (iCBT) for depression.
iCBT can help overcome many obstacles that are often in the way of treating mental health conditions.
Such treatment barriers include geographical distance, the social stigma surrounding mental health problems, the often prohibitive cost of treatment, and the insufficient numbers of mental healthcare providers that are available.
Until now, however, it was unclear whether the studies hailing the benefits of iCBT for depression also included people living with severe depression or those living with anxiety or alcohol use disorder in addition to depression.
The concern that such biases were artificially inflating the benefits of iCBT drove researchers to examine the effects of iCBT in more depth.
Lorenzo Lorenzo-Luaces, who is a clinical professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Indiana University in Bloomington, led the new study, which was just published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research.
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