Family involvement may help with repeat depression

By Joene Hendry

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Family therapy may be more effective than simply increasing the dosage of an antidepressant drug when a patient with severe depression suffers a relapse during long-term treatment, new research suggests.

The results from the present study illustrate the important role life events and family balance have on patients being treated for repeat depression episodes, note Dr. Giovanni A. Fava, University of Bologna, Italy, and colleagues.

"If one is taking antidepressants but has a lot of stress around, particularly in their family, they need family treatment and not more drugs," Fava told Reuters Health.

The investigators enrolled 20 adult men and women who suffered a depression relapse despite good adherence to antidepressant medications.

Half the participants maintained the dosage of their antidepressant medication while they and their partner participated in 6 one-hour sessions of family therapy every other week. During these sessions, the patient and partner worked with a clinician to identify family problems and life events tied to the patient's relapse and develop problem-solving steps to positively address these situations.

The other 10 study participants had their medication dosages increased and received support and advice as needed in six 30-minute sessions every other week.

During the 1-year study period, 7 out of 10 patients in each group responded to their respective therapies, researchers report in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.

However, just 1 of the 7 responders in the family intervention group, compared with 6 of the 7 responders in the increased dosage group, relapsed during the study period.

Patient relapse may often be associated with a specific life event, such as retirement or changes within the family, the researchers comment. Therefore, the application of a family intervention for patients with recurrent depression should be further assessed in larger study groups.

SOURCE: Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, September 2007.