can you complete an essay by choosing a current, controversial topic related to
ID: 3487161 • Letter: C
Question
can you complete an essay by choosing a current, controversial topic related to psychotherapy, or diagnosis and treatment of psychopathology? This can only be done if your topic is formulated as a question. As examples, your topic may ask a question about the relative effectiveness of 2 types of psychotherapy, about patient confidentiality, diagnostic systems, causes of psychopathology, differences in established theories, or many others in a minimum of 6 pages not including the and reference pages. Begin by introducing your topic, providing an overview of the issue, and explaining why it is important. You should then present the different sides of the issue. Finally, write your own conclusion regarding the debate, which will include stating your opinion on the issue. You must include at least 8 references which must be peer-reviewed journal articles or books. Use APA formatting throughout. No quotations are allowed.
Explanation / Answer
Note: This response is in UK English, please paste the response to MS Word and you should be able to spot discrepancies easily.
(Answer) Essay Title: Depression in Psychotherapy
Introduction: Depression, anxiety, and stress are the three most common issues that psychologists have found in their patients. Over the years, with problems in finance and markets, jobs, pressures of society etc. There are more Americans who succumb taking anti-depressants. Psychotherapy is also the go-to remedy for this issue. But with several remedial solutions, there is bound to be a debate over which is safest, best and helps cure the problem and not just suppress it.
Overview: Recently, in the field of psychotherapy, there has been a debate over alleviating depression in patients. There are concerns over which brings affirmative results, anti-depressants or psychotherapy. The Washington post recently published a discussion on whether anti-depressants were the better and preferred solution or psychotherapy.
Morris, N. (Ed.). (2017, November 25). From pills to psychotherapy, treating depression often lies in a gray zone. The Washington Post.
It is not only a matter of popular opinion in this case but, also a matter of what is in the best interest of the patient. The repercussions of depression and be detrimental and therefore a matter like this is delicate and a conclusion should be based on facts and not on what is most profitable to any drug producing industry.
Body: The authors of the paper “A Systematic Review of Comparative Efficacy of Treatments and Controls for Depression” reviewed data from the FDA and data from published trials. “Overall, antidepressants led to greater symptom reduction compared to placebo among both unpublished FDA data and published trials (F = 38.5, df = 239, p<0.001). In the published trials we noted that the magnitude of symptom reduction with active depression treatments compared to controls was significantly larger when raters evaluating treatment effects were un-blinded compared to the trials with blinded raters (F = 2.17, df = 313, p<0.05).”
Khan, A., Faucett, J., Lichtenberg, P., Kirsch, I., & Brown, W. A. (2012). A Systematic Review of Comparative Efficacy of Treatments and Controls for Depression. PLoS ONE, 7(7). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0041778
If such a study is taken into consideration, then it can be observed that both psychotherapy and medication are equally as important and should be complementary to each other.
In another study, “In the comparison between CBT and antidepressants, 8 studies met inclusion criteria.” The research goes to conclude that, “Combined treatment appeared more effective than antidepressants. However, combined treatment did not emerge more effective than CBT.” Here cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) is an effective means to cure depression. However, antidepressants alone cannot always work to cure depression.
Wallace, J., Clarke, M., Byrne, C., & Nwosu, B. (2014). EPA-0140 – Antidepressants, cbt, and their combination in depressed patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis. European Psychiatry, 29, 1. doi:10.1016/s0924-9338(14)77612-6
In another study, there was a systematic review including qualitative assessment and meta-analyses using random and fixed effects models. This study concluded that “Second generation antidepressants and CBT have evidence bases of benefits and harms in major depressive disorder. Available evidence suggests no difference in treatment effects of second-generation antidepressants and CBT, either alone or in combination, although small numbers may preclude detection of small but clinically meaningful differences.”
Amick, H. R., Gartlehner, G., Gaynes, B. N., Forneris, C., Asher, G. N., Morgan, L. C., . . . Lohr, K. N. (2015). Comparative benefits and harms of second-generation antidepressants and cognitive behavioral therapies in the initial treatment of major depressive disorder: systematic review and meta-analysis. Bmj. doi:10.1136/bmj.h6019
This study too concludes that anti-depressants alone may not be enough to cure the issue completely.
In another study, “One hundred and fifty-three outcome trials involving 29 879 participants with depressive disorders were identified.” The results of this study stated that “Despite the small number of comparative trials for some of the analyses, this study reveals that combined treatment is superior, but psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy alone are also efficacious for improving functioning and quality of life.” In this study, both pills and therapy by themselves are effective. However, both approaches combined together bring the best results.
Kamenov, K., Twomey, C., Cabello, M., Prina, A. M., & Ayuso-Mateos, J. L. (2016). The efficacy of psychotherapy, pharmacotherapy and their combination on functioning and quality of life in depression: a meta-analysis. Psychological Medicine, 47(03), 414-425. doi:10.1017/s0033291716002774
Personal Views: Based on the data collected, it can be pointed out that the most effective and the safest approach to treating a patient with depression is both therapy and medication. The regulation and alternation of which should be regulated by a professional.
(PS. I suggest adding 2 more references based on your textbook, ppt or any other class study material. This will help you stick to the context of the chapter/textbook you are using.)
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