Treating Depression in the Elderly: Medication, Psychotherapy, or Both?

An article in Psychiatric Times discusses the status of treatment for elderly people who are depressed. Written by Mark Miller, it opens with this observation:

There are hundreds of studies that show that pharmacotherapy is used to treat depression in adult and geriatric populations. There are far fewer studies that test the efficacy of psychotherapies and even fewer studies that focus on combined treatment for older patients. This discrepancy is largely a consequence of industry support of research in the former and the dependence on NIMH funding in the latter two. The sober lesson we have learned from STAR*D is that there are no pharmacological treatments that work for everyone.

STAR*D (Sequenced Treatment Alternatives to Relieve Depression) was a massive set of studies, conducted under grants from NIMH, in which they attempted to replicate real world treatment of depression. In the real world, depression often--if not usually--coexists with another disorder, such as anxiety. In most studies, the subjects have uncomplicated depression. That makes it easier to interpret the results, but raises questions about applicability of the results to the real world. In most studies, the subjects were given one medication and evaluated for depression after a set period. In the real world, if the patient isn't responding to treatment, the treatment is changed.

In STAR*D, the subjects were more heterogeneous and they were given sequenced treatment. Hence, the treatment was more applicable to the real world. The results, which Miller summarizes in one sentence above, are, I think, consistent with what all of us practitioners know. Treatment effects are significant, but there is no
predictability in response to treatment. Not everyone gets better easily.

In the real world, psychotherapy is often added to medication management. In STAR*D, there were a number of studies of psychotherapy. Here is one report of adding cognitive therapy to the mix. NIMH summarizes the results as follows:

Switching to or adding cognitive therapy (CT) after a first unsuccessful attempt at treating depression with an antidepressant medication is generally as effective as switching to or adding another medication, but remission may take longer to achieve.

I believe also, that either this study or another study had evidence that showed that the subjects, when given a choice of medication change or psychotherapy, often opt for medication change. There are two reasons for this. First, taking medication is easier and less anxiety-provoking than going once a week for psychotherapy. Second, all of the television ads for drugs give the impression that they are the way to go. Yet several types of psychotherapy, most notably cognitive therapy and interpersonal therapy, have very good track records.

All of this is equally true with the elderly. Miller argues that psychotherapy is particularly important for the elderly:

Every depression is expressed in an interpersonal context and thus its effects in the patient cause ripples that sometimes damage relationships that need to be addressed for potential repair work. The goals of combination treatment in late life are to:

• Be able to restore a state of homeostasis or balance by lessening the severity of the depression (and any comorbid anxiety).
• Maximize the coping ability of the patient.
  
• Foster a more positive outlook of remaining strengths and opportunities.
  
• Solicit external supports to foster not only a sense of being "backed up" but also a sense of having valued and purposeful integration into a social network.

Working with the elderly is different from other types of psychotherapy, because there is more emphasis on coping with problems in the real world. Therapists often worry that elderly clients will be too rigid to benefit from therapy. However, that rigidity is often outweighed by a strength not possessed by younger clients. Elderly persons have been through a lifetime of problems and usually have a well-developed repertoire of coping skills. The trick in therapy is to identify them and encourage the client to use them again.

So, the answer to the question, medication, psychotherapy, or both? is "It depends." It's frustrating that mental health professionals have not been able to identify who will profit from what kind of treatment. It's still very much a trial-and-error process, despite a significant amount of science in both medicine and psychology. By combining psychotherapy and medication, we can often bring out the best of both treatments. Miller illustrates this by paraphrasing Kay Redfield Jamison (An Unquiet Mind): "Lithium diminishes my depression, but psychotherapy heals."

A Series of Posts on Psychotherapy

I'm going to begin a series of posts on psychotherapy, which are long overdue. When I started blogging, I anticipated writing a lot about the science of psychotherapy, but I haven't followed through with it; I've been having too much fun with other things.

Two events have come together to get me started. First, at Aardvarchaeology (on ScienceBlogs), there was a recent post entitled, Is Psychotherapy Superstition? in which the author, Dr Martin Rundkvist, seemed to be confused about what psychotherapy is. Furthermore, some of the commenters on the blog seemed totally unaware of the evidence for the effectiveness of psychotherapy.

Second, I put off a post on a story in last week's New York Times Magazine by Bruce Stutz, who decided to withdraw himself from Effexor. Stutz initially went on Effexor after becoming depressed during difficult period in his life. He stayed on the drug for several years, and was advised to stay on it the rest of his life. He decided that he didn't want to and weaned himself off, but experienced severe withdrawal symptoms in the process:

Over the next several days they (low doses of Effexor--F.O.) came in handy, especially at night, when I would wake up feeling dizzy, almost seasick, disoriented and in a heavy sweat, the pillow soaked. One night, awake and not eager to go back to lying restlessly in bed, I went online, typed in “Effexor withdrawal” and found bulletin boards full of pained, plaintive and sometimes angry posters who had quit taking their medication and were suffering a broad but surprisingly consistent range of symptoms: dry mouth, muscle twitching, sleeplessness, fatigue, dizziness, stomach cramps, nightmares, blurred vision, tinnitus, anxiety and, weirdest of all, what were referred to as “brain zaps” or “brain shivers.” While there were those who went off with few or no symptoms at all, others reported taking months to feel physically readjusted.

Stutz eventually did wean himself off Effexor, and has not had a recurrence of depression. He puts his finger on the issue:

If my psychiatrist had told me, “I think you can do this without taking any drugs,” would I have done just as well? If I had been told how difficult it would be to get off the drug, would I have so readily started on it? Even the doctors and researchers who most believe in the effectiveness of antidepressants acknowledge that the “chemical balance” paradigm, the magic-bullet paradigm, makes things seem simpler than they actually are. For some, these drugs may be a lifesaving treatment. But for most of us troubled or even temporarily anguished by life’s difficulties, does our long-term reliance on these drugs become more of a convenience than a cure, allowing us to simply keep going in the midst of very difficult circumstances? And once we start taking them, how do we find the wherewithal to stop?

To make a decision between drugs alone, psychotherapy alone, and both combined, patients need to understand what psychotherapy is. It is not a panacea, as it was once advertised. It's not for all people, or even for all depressed people. Prospective clients of a psychotherapist need to understand what they are getting into. So, there are three topics I want to address in this series.

First, I'll talk about what psychotherapy is and is not. To do that, I have talk about the history of psychotherapy and how we got to where we are today. Next, I'll give a brief description of research in psychotherapy, and finally, I'll talk about how therapy and medication work together in treatment.

I hope this will give readers a better idea of what to expect if they seek psychotherapy and a better ability to understand some of the stories about the effectiveness of therapy that emerge in the press. All treatments for physical and mental illnesses involve decision making. The more you understand the options, the better.