A study published in the journal Archives of General Psychiatry indicates that treating depression with cognitive therapy might be as effective as using antidepressants. The study, which was conducted at the University of Pennsylvania, involved 240 people who suffered from depression ranging from moderate to severe.

The group was divided up and 120 people were treated with an antidepressant drug. The rest of the participants were divided into two groups of 60, with one group given a placebo. The remaining 60 people underwent two 50-minute sessions of cognitive therapy per week for the first four weeks. For the next eight weeks, the sessions were held once or twice a week, and during the final four weeks, these patients had therapy once a week.

At eight weeks, the participants were examined. Researchers the group that had been given the medication had a response rate of 50 percent. For those getting therapy, the response rate was s bit lower, at 43 percent. Not surprisingly, those who received the placebo had a response rate of 25 percent.

The groups were checked again after 16 weeks. The response rates for both patients receiving therapy and those who were given medication was 58 percent. At that point, remission rates were also measured. Those who had undergone therapy scored slightly lower than those on medication - 40 percent as opposed to 46 percent.

The authors of the study believe that these results directly challenge the American Psychiatric Association's guidelines for treating patients of depression, which states that most people suffering from moderate to severe depression will require medication.

Cognitive therapy is defined as: 'A form of psychotherapy using imagery, self-instruction, and related techniques to alter distorted attitudes and perceptions.' Modern cognitive therapy is derived from Albert Ellis' Reason and Emotion in Psychotherapy published in 1962, and Aaron Beck's The Self Concept in Depression published in 1960. However, even as early at 1917, Freud wrote about the possible connections between depression and perceived loss in his book Mourning and Melancholia.