Title: Are psychopharmaca superior to psychotherapy in the treatment of depression?
Introduction
Concerning the treatment of depression, the figures are of such proportions that details can never be over-looked or neglected. Consider the following. Depressive disorders are amongst the most frequent psychiatric diseases in the Western World, with prevalence numbers between 9% and 18%. According to a 1997 survey (Jindal & Thase, 2003) of the most common reasons for patient visits to family physicians in the United States, depression and anxiety ranked 11th and 17th respectively. The seriousness of this disorder, besides prevalence but in terms of affect, cannot be overstated. Beck (1967) identified five cardinal symptoms of depression: (1) a sad and apathetic mood, (2) feelings of worthlessness and hopelessness, (3) a desire to withdraw from other people, (4) sleeplessness and a loss of appetite and sexual desire, and (5) change in activity level, to either lethargy or......
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Approximate Word Count: 1343
Approximate Pages: 6 (260 words per double-spaced page) |