Treatments for Dysthymia
Dysthymia, or persistent depressive disorder, is a long-term depressive disorder that can cause a loss of interest, feelings of hopelessness, lack of productivity, feelings of low self-esteem and inadequacy, and interfere with a person’s ability to maintain social relationships or perform daily tasks (Mayo Clinic staff, 2016). The two main treatment methods used to help those diagnosed with dysthymia, are through the use of medication and psychotherapy (Mayo Clinic staff, 2015). A study conducted by Thase and colleagues, which explored the effects of medication on the treatment of dysthymia, and a study conducted by Rohricht, Papadopoulos, & Priebe, which explored the effects of body psychotherapy on the treatment of …show more content…
The use of medication can cause side effects and withdrawal symptoms, whereas psychotherapy does not have this sort of effect (Mayo Clinic staff, 2015). Medication also causes more problems in a patient might need to try several different medications before they find the right medication for them (Mayo Clinic staff, 2015). Only about 25-35% of patients go into remission from the first drug they are prescribed (Harvard, 2009). The way that the treatments work to help patients also differs. Psychotherapy is used to help patients work through their problems and help them cope, adjust to, and solve various situations (Mayo Clinic staff, 2015). Psychotherapy also delves into how to help the patient regain a sense of satisfaction and control and explore their relationships better (Mayo Clinic staff, 2015). Whereas medication is used to target the brain and change the balance of chemical messengers that are causing depression in the first place (Mayo Clinic staff, …show more content…
The reason they looked at this new type of therapy was because other studies had concluded that pharmacotherapy was more effective at treating patients with dysthymia than psychotherapy, including cognitive-behavioral therapy, interpersonal psychotherapy, and a mixture of other psychological and behavioral therapies (Rohricht, Papadopoulos, & Priebe, 2013). Their results showed a statistically significant decrease in depressive symptoms for the group assigned to immediate body psychotherapy, as opposed to the group that had to wait 12 weeks before receiving treatment (Rohricht, Papadopoulos, & Priebe, 2013). The group that had to wait before receiving treatment also had a slight increase of symptoms before treatment, but showed improvement after treatment had started (Rohricht, Papadopoulos, & Priebe, 2013). The issue with this study, however, is that there was no control group to compare the effectiveness of the treatment. Though they did have a group wait 12 weeks before receiving treatment, there needs to be a group to compare the results at the end of the study as well. This is because there might be some other factor that affects the treatment during a certain time period, and without a control, this cannot be analyzed. Even though they were meticulous in setting eligibility criteria in order to observe the effects of body
Dysthymia, or persistent depressive disorder, is a long-term depressive disorder that can cause a loss of interest, feelings of hopelessness, lack of productivity, feelings of low self-esteem and inadequacy, and interfere with a person’s ability to maintain social relationships or perform daily tasks (Mayo Clinic staff, 2016). The two main treatment methods used to help those diagnosed with dysthymia, are through the use of medication and psychotherapy (Mayo Clinic staff, 2015). A study conducted by Thase and colleagues, which explored the effects of medication on the treatment of dysthymia, and a study conducted by Rohricht, Papadopoulos, & Priebe, which explored the effects of body psychotherapy on the treatment of …show more content…
The use of medication can cause side effects and withdrawal symptoms, whereas psychotherapy does not have this sort of effect (Mayo Clinic staff, 2015). Medication also causes more problems in a patient might need to try several different medications before they find the right medication for them (Mayo Clinic staff, 2015). Only about 25-35% of patients go into remission from the first drug they are prescribed (Harvard, 2009). The way that the treatments work to help patients also differs. Psychotherapy is used to help patients work through their problems and help them cope, adjust to, and solve various situations (Mayo Clinic staff, 2015). Psychotherapy also delves into how to help the patient regain a sense of satisfaction and control and explore their relationships better (Mayo Clinic staff, 2015). Whereas medication is used to target the brain and change the balance of chemical messengers that are causing depression in the first place (Mayo Clinic staff, …show more content…
The reason they looked at this new type of therapy was because other studies had concluded that pharmacotherapy was more effective at treating patients with dysthymia than psychotherapy, including cognitive-behavioral therapy, interpersonal psychotherapy, and a mixture of other psychological and behavioral therapies (Rohricht, Papadopoulos, & Priebe, 2013). Their results showed a statistically significant decrease in depressive symptoms for the group assigned to immediate body psychotherapy, as opposed to the group that had to wait 12 weeks before receiving treatment (Rohricht, Papadopoulos, & Priebe, 2013). The group that had to wait before receiving treatment also had a slight increase of symptoms before treatment, but showed improvement after treatment had started (Rohricht, Papadopoulos, & Priebe, 2013). The issue with this study, however, is that there was no control group to compare the effectiveness of the treatment. Though they did have a group wait 12 weeks before receiving treatment, there needs to be a group to compare the results at the end of the study as well. This is because there might be some other factor that affects the treatment during a certain time period, and without a control, this cannot be analyzed. Even though they were meticulous in setting eligibility criteria in order to observe the effects of body