Effectiveness of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in patients with depression

Introduction: Depression is a mental disorder  that causes mood disor- ders, which are characterized by a loss of control and a subjective  experience of great discomfort. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) seems to be effective in depression and therefore it becomes necessary to investigate its effectiveness.

Aim: To investigate the effectiveness of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) in patients with depression. By investigating the effectiveness  of individual and  group CBT,  its  effectiveness  in a community context, its effectiveness in relation to the administration of pharmacotherapy and the long-term  efficiency of CBT.

Material and Method: A systematic review of the literature was carried out in the Pubmed, Cohrane and Scopus databases for the years 2007-2021.  Key words used were the following:  depression, major depressive disorder,  depressive symptoms, cognitive behavioral  therapy  (CBT), psychotherapy,  group therapy, individual therapy, antidepressants, pharmacotherapy. The criteria for the inclusion of the studies were that the writing language should be English, that the survey population should be adults, adolescents and children of all sexes suffering from depression, and the criteria for excluding studies were CBT intervention via the internet or telephone. The initial search resulted in 21.587 studies, of which 13 were included in this systematic review.

Results: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is effective in preventing the relapse of depression, as it reduces the risk of relapse by eight times and the risk of future recurrent episodes of depression. CBT, in connection with the use of pharmacotherapy,  has also had a positive effect on depression, improving physical symptoms, symptoms of depression and anxiety,  quality  of life and social function of patients. In addition, the effectiveness of CBT was observed to be maintained  for more than 3 years.

Conclusions: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is effective in patients with depression in both individual  and group CBT sessions and in the community context. CBT in combination with pharmacotherapy is also indicated in the treatment of depression and is effective over time.