CBT And Meds For Depression

As I noted yesterday, Aaron Beck just won a Lasker award—major recognition for his work and major validation by the medical establishment that CBT ain't no fly-by-night talk therapy. Even better, my friend John McManamy passed along a link to a paper examining the treatment of depression with meds alone, CBT alone, and the two combined. The results of the 12-week study were interesting. Meds-alone generated a 48 percent response rate (remission of part-remisssion), and CBT-alone hit that same mark. But combined the two generated a 73 percent response rate. The study is from 2000 and I am too tired to go look for any confirming studies. But i bet you it was research finding like that that finally elevated Beck's standing in the field.