Teens Respond Best to Combination Therapy

ScienceDaily, a source for research news reports that recent studies have found that depressed teens who do not initially respond well to a usual course of SSRI antidepressants show significant improvement when their medication is changed and cognitive behavioral therapy is added. Cognitive behavioral therapy focuses on the relationship between thoughts and behavior. When someone is depressed, their thoughts usually serve to support their depression, ie. “I’m never going to amount to anything, why bother finishing high school.” With therapy, these negative thoughts can be re-framed to fight the depression, ie. “I will finish high school because I want to go to college.” If your teenager has had treatment resistant depression, speak to you doctor about changing their medication and beginning cognitive behavioral treatment with a therapist. Help your child fight their depression!

Read more about this study at ScienceNews.