Posted by jane d on January 25, 2003, at 21:12:34
Really fascinating presentation. It answered many of the questions I've had after reading the news reports about earlier studies and gave me lots more. I can't wait to see the results of the next study. I'd be grateful for answers to any of the following questions.
The cognitive therapy patients were more likely to have some residual symptoms after treatment. Was there any type of symptom that was more likely to remain, for example sleeping and eating disturbances as opposed to guilt and hopelessness or ability to slog thru daily activities? Also, did CT or meds make a difference in whether patients had the same symptoms when they relapsed as when they entered the study?
I also wondered how many of the subjects had been on medication prior to the study. I've heard that most people are prescribed SSRI's right off the bat - frequently by their family doctor - so I would have thought that most people coming into a study would have tried an SSRI even if it wasn't Paxil and that it didn't work for them.
Were any medication adjustments allowed in the continuation phase and how often were the follow up medication visits?
On the CT side was there any provision for matching particular therapists with patients - honoring patient gender preferences for example?
I've always felt that the explanations for how cognitive therapy and medication work are somewhat mutually exclusive with my own belief being that emotions drive cognitions rather than the other way around and that medication works on the emotions resulting in a less negative outlook. Since both approaches seem to work does that mean that the explanations for why one or both work are wrong or are they not truly mutually exclusive after all?
poster:jane d
thread:2302
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20021230/msgs/2302.html