Neuroscience
The Pulse website for GPs features a new debate between the psychopharmacologist Professor David Nutt and the clinical psychologist Dr Stephen Pilling, regarding whether psychotherapies have been overhyped.
The debate comes as the UK government rolls out its "Improving access to psychological therapies" programme across the country, with the promise of massive investment in more therapists to help deliver approved treatments, particularly CBT, to everyone who needs it, including those with problems such as anxiety and depression. This project has also coincided with a cultural backlash against drug treatments for depression and anxiety, amid fears that anti-depressants may do more harm than good, and with a recent high-profile study suggesting such drugs are no more effective than placebo.
Professor Nutt says that psychotherapies are not tested by the same strict criteria faced by drug treatments. He also fears that rates of abuse by therapists of their clients may be as high as 40 per cent. He writes: "Most of the support for psychotherapy is based on a mixture of the desire for it to work and the false supposition that it does. It is doubtful if any form of psychotherapy has yet fulfilled the stringent criteria required for licensing drug treatments."
Dr Pilling retorts that Nutt is simply wrong: high quality randomised controlled trials have demonstrated the superior efficacy of psychological treatments for anxiety and depression. Moreover, he argues, the research shows that psychological treatments may actually have longer lasting benefits than drugs. And he adds that a supervision system should help keep abuse of therapy clients to a minimum. He concludes: "Let us move beyond rhetoric and focus on delivering an effective evidence-based programme of psychological treatments that complements pharmacological interventions, is delivered by competent professionals, is rigorously evaluated and offers real choice to patients."
Post written by Christian Jarrett (@psych_writer) for the BPS Research Digest.
Link to debate on Pulse website.
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Neuroscience
Have psychotherapies been overhyped?
The Pulse website for GPs features a new debate between the psychopharmacologist Professor David Nutt and the clinical psychologist Dr Stephen Pilling, regarding whether psychotherapies have been overhyped.The debate comes as the UK government rolls out its "Improving access to psychological therapies" programme across the country, with the promise of massive investment in more therapists to help deliver approved treatments, particularly CBT, to everyone who needs it, including those with problems such as anxiety and depression. This project has also coincided with a cultural backlash against drug treatments for depression and anxiety, amid fears that anti-depressants may do more harm than good, and with a recent high-profile study suggesting such drugs are no more effective than placebo.
Professor Nutt says that psychotherapies are not tested by the same strict criteria faced by drug treatments. He also fears that rates of abuse by therapists of their clients may be as high as 40 per cent. He writes: "Most of the support for psychotherapy is based on a mixture of the desire for it to work and the false supposition that it does. It is doubtful if any form of psychotherapy has yet fulfilled the stringent criteria required for licensing drug treatments."
Dr Pilling retorts that Nutt is simply wrong: high quality randomised controlled trials have demonstrated the superior efficacy of psychological treatments for anxiety and depression. Moreover, he argues, the research shows that psychological treatments may actually have longer lasting benefits than drugs. And he adds that a supervision system should help keep abuse of therapy clients to a minimum. He concludes: "Let us move beyond rhetoric and focus on delivering an effective evidence-based programme of psychological treatments that complements pharmacological interventions, is delivered by competent professionals, is rigorously evaluated and offers real choice to patients."
Post written by Christian Jarrett (@psych_writer) for the BPS Research Digest.
Link to debate on Pulse website.
- Most Mental Health Patients Prefer Psychotherapy Over Drugs
A line was crossed in 2005 as anti-depressant medication became the most widely prescribed class of drug in the USA. Here in England, the use of anti-depressants has risen to its highest ever level with 50 million prescriptions written last year. And...
- Blogging For Mental Health
To coincide with the Mental Health Month Blog Party organised by the APA, I've collated some highlights from our coverage of mental health issues here at the BPS Research Digest. What is mental illness? In 2010 I reported on a Psychological Medicine...
- Psychotherapy Has Drug-like Effect On The Brain
There is now widespread evidence that successful psychological therapies induce changes to brain function, often in a way comparable to drug treatments. That’s according to a new review by Veena Kumari at the Institute of Psychiatry. Take the example...
- Neuropsychology Abstract Of The Day: Alzheimer's Disease
Does pharmacological treatment of neuropsychiatric symptoms in Alzheimer's disease relieve caregiver burden? Drugs Aging. 2012 Mar 1;29(3):167-179 Levy K, Lanctôt KL, Farber SB, Li A, Herrmann NAbstractCaregiving for patients with Alzheimer's...
- Neuropsychology Abstract Of The Day: Alzheimer's Disease Pharmacologic Strategies
New pharmacological strategies for treatment of Alzheimer's disease: focus on disease-modifying drugs British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology. 2011 Oct 28; Salomone S, Caraci F, Leggio GM, Fedotova J, Drago F Abstract Current approved drug treatments...