Beyond SSRIs and Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy: What are other approaches to mild to moderate depression?

Recently on PsychologyToday.com I interviewed Dr. Thomas Insel, Director of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).on how to treat depression.

That interview as been gnawing at me ever since. You see, the advice he gave is pretty much what has been recommended for a decade or more, that most people with mild to moderate depression are best treated with an SSRI (like Prozac and Zoloft) and/or cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT.)

In my admittedly anecdotal experience, having been career and personal coach to many people with depression, their most common experience is that the drug yields some benefit, typically taking the edge off their depression but often, the effect wears off. And the side-effects are often problematic, for example, sexual dysfunction, flattened affect, nausea, and drowsiness. People often go off the medication feeling unsure that the benefits outweigh the side effects

And my clients’ typical experience with cognitive-behavioral therapy is that it helps but, pardon the pun, it’s no magic pill.

Without turning to the treatments usually reserved for severe depression such as electro-convulsive therapy (ECT) or vagus nerve stimulation, what else seems worthy of trial? I address that question in my PsychologyToday.com article today. HERE is the link