The Hopelessness Theory of Depression

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In my literary research review, I will look at articles presenting research on the effectiveness of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy on those who are suffering from depression. The articles will be discussing Cognitive Behavioral Therapies effectiveness on those of different ages and genders. The literature will research and review quantitative and qualitative studies and what their outcomes revealed. Research on the effectiveness of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for those who are suffering from depression shows that in the short term, the effectiveness is similar in results to medical interventions. However, in treating depression for a long time, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is shown to be successful. The additional information learned from these studies is that use of both Cognitive Behavioral Therapy with pharmaceutical intervention has shown some of the better results. There are also the depth of the depression, and other mental health issues to consider before recommending Cognitive Behavioral Therapy first. The type and extent of the depression and other factors will greatly affect how successful the therapy will be. The articles have empirical research discussing Cognitive Behavioral Therapies effectiveness on those with different variables such as age, gender, and socioeconomic status. What is depression? According to the American Psychological Association (2014), “Depression is more than just sadness. People with depression may experience a lack of interest and pleasure in daily activities, significant weight loss or gain, insomnia or excessive sleeping, lack of energy, inability to concentrate, feelings of worthlessness or excessive guilt and recurrent thoughts of death or suicide. Depression is the most common menta... ... middle of paper ... ...currently little empirical support for cognitive mediation.” While many of these studies show that Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is an effective treatment for depression, there are other issues to look at. One of these issues is the severity of the depression and if it is in conjunction with other mental health disorders. If there is a minor depression, then most of the studies indicate that there is definite improvement from the use of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. However, when there are more issues going on and the depression is severe then other forms of treatment may be necessary such as the use of medications in combination with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy or other therapies. In addition, the individual may not be responsive to this type of treatment and would then need to be assessed to see what other types of treatment would be most effective for them.

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