During any one-year period, approximately 18.8 million American adults suffer from a depressive illness. Although the economic cost for treating depression is high, it is incomparable to the cost of personal human suffering. Depression often interferes with one’s ability to perform everyday tasks. This not only decreases the quality of life for the individual, but also for those who care and worry about the individual. Many people with depression choose not to seek treatment and thus suffer from the illness alone. However, thanks to many years of research, there are a variety of treatments in the field of pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy available to help treat depression.

Pharmacotherapy is the treatment of an illness through the use of prescription drugs. This form of treatment involves the use of several types of antidepressant medications such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), tricyclics, and monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs). Antidepressants may cause side effects such as blurred vision, constipation, dizziness, dry mouth, drowsiness or sexual problems. However, newer antidepressant medications such as Zoloft, Prozac and Paxil have been shown to have slightly milder side effects such as agitation, headache, nausea, and nervousness or insomnia. Once antidepressants are taken, individuals may feel improvement in their condition within the first few weeks. However, for full therapeutic effects to occur, antidepressants must be taken for as long as the patient’s physician feels it is necessary [1].

On the other hand, psychotherapy is the treatment of mental or emotional disorders through the use of psychological techniques. Such treatment may help individuals with depression to resolve their problems by talking to a therapist. For example, behavioral therapists help individuals “unlearn” the behaviors that contributed to their depression, while teaching them how to achieve satisfaction in other areas of their lives. Interpersonal therapists focus on resolving harmful relationships that may have caused the individual to become depressed. Cognitive/behavioral therapists help an individual change their pessimistic thinking processes and negative behaviors associated with depression. Many therapies can last as short as 10-20 weeks, while some therapies may need months to be effective [1].

As depression affects an increasing number of people worldwide, some drug companies may see this as an opportunity to benefit financially. Drug companies often send representatives to speak with physicians to try and persuade them to use their drugs. Thus, this raises the question of whether the available pharmacotherapeutic treatments today are truly efficient. In general, patients are required to take their medication for at least four to nine months. However, some patients are tempted to stop taking their medication as directed because they feel it is not helping them. This may cause the patient to relapse into another cycle of depression. Consequently, it is important for physicians to closely monitor the dosage of medication prescribed and the progress of the patient, but not every physician does so. Pharmacotherapy is still considered a popular treatment because it is fairly convenient for both patients and physicians. Drug companies often try to emphasize the fact that pharmacotherapy may be a less time-consuming treatment than psychotherapy [2].

However, studies have shown that psychotherapy can be as beneficial as pharmacotherapy. Psychologists say that cognitive-behavioral therapy is at least as effective as medication in treating depression. With the right amount of time and patience, psychotherapy can help a person suffering from depression return to their normal everyday life without the risky side effects of drugs. Furthermore, the vast majority of individuals with depression cannot attribute their illness to identifiable medical causes, such as genetic influence or chemical imbalances in the brain. Therefore, in many cases cause of depression may be more psychological than biological. Thus, the use of medications to treat such cases may be questionable. Despite this, depression overall is still primarily viewed as a “medical illness” for which medications are the dominant form of treatment [3].

Another alternative for individuals with depression is the use of combination therapy. Combination therapy involves the use of pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy treatments simultaneously. Scientists recently performed a meta-analysis to determine whether combined therapy is superior to the use of either treatment alone for depressed patients. Researchers assessed seventeen controlled studies and gave them different weights, which are numerical factors that help reflect its importance in the study. These weights were multiplied by weights based on the outcome of the analysis. Results showed that combined treatments given to patients were more effective than the placebo group that thought they were receiving individual treatments. Pharmacotherapy alone had slightly superior results to psychotherapy alone. However, combination therapy was shown to not to be significantly better than psychotherapy alone [3].

In conclusion, the images presented to the public of certain treatments can be misleading, resulting in misconceptions about pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy. This may make it difficult for patients who are in need of treatment to decide which procedures will be most effective for them. Therefore, it is wise to consult multiple health professionals familiar in both medical and psychological fields before making any decision about treatments.