Psychiatric Services
Journal Home Search Current Issue Past Issues Subscribe All APPI Journals Help Contact Us
 
Quicksearch
Advanced Search
Or Search All APPI Journals
This Article
* Full Text (PDF)
* Alert me when this article is cited
* Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
* Email this article to a Colleague
* Similar articles in this journal
* Alert me to new issues of the journal
* Add to My Articles & Searches
* Download to citation manager
* reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
* Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
* Articles by Unützer, J.
* Articles by Bush, T.
* Search for Related Content
PubMed
* Articles by Unützer, J.
* Articles by Bush, T.
Related Collections
* Minority Issues
* Treatment Compliance
* Costs, Cost Analysis
* Depression
* Other Health Services Issues
* Education, Patient and Family
* Atypical Neuroleptics
* Conventional Neuroleptics
Psychiatr Serv 54:1042-1043, July 2003
© 2003 American Psychiatric Association

Letters

Psychopharmacology Plus Psychotherapy for Depression Treatment

In Reply: We agree with Dr. Mark about the importance of the patient's perspective. However, we do not agree that our study focused "solely on pharmacotherapy." As we pointed out in the introduction, recent reviews of the evidence suggest that antidepressants and evidence-based psychotherapies are equally effective for major depression (1,2). The two studies in which we asked the willingness-to-pay questions tested collaborative care models for depression that included both pharmacologic and psychosocial treatment components (3,4). Our willingness-to-pay question did not focus solely on pharmacotherapy but asked study participants a "neutral" question about how much they would be willing to pay for a six-month course of depression treatment without implying that such treatment should involve pharmacotherapy or psychotherapy.

Jürgen Unützer, M.D., M.P.H., Wayne J. Katon, M.D., Joan Russo, Ph.D., Gregory Simon, M.D., M.P.H., Michael Von Korff, D.Sc., Elizabeth Lin, M.D., M.P.H., Edward Walker, M.D., Evette Ludman, Ph.D. and Terry Bush, Ph.D.

References

  1. Depression Guidelines Panel: Depression in Primary Care: Clinical Practice Guideline 5. Pub no 93–0550. Rockville, Md, Agency for Health Care Policy and Research, 1993
  2. Schulberg HC, Katon W, Simon GE, et al: Treating major depression in primary care practice: an update of the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research Practice Guidelines. Archives of General Psychiatry 55:1121–1127, 1998[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  3. Katon WJ, Von Korff M, Lin EHB, et al: Stepped collaborative care for primary care patients with persistent symptoms of depression. Archives of General Psychiatry 56:1109–1115, 1999[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  4. Katon WJ, Rutter C, Ludman E, et al: A randomized trial of relapse prevention of depression in primary care. Archives of General Psychiatry 56:1109–1115, 1999[Abstract/Free Full Text]




This Article
* Full Text (PDF)
* Alert me when this article is cited
* Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
* Email this article to a Colleague
* Similar articles in this journal
* Alert me to new issues of the journal
* Add to My Articles & Searches
* Download to citation manager
* reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
* Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
* Articles by Unützer, J.
* Articles by Bush, T.
* Search for Related Content
PubMed
* Articles by Unützer, J.
* Articles by Bush, T.
Related Collections
* Minority Issues
* Treatment Compliance
* Costs, Cost Analysis
* Depression
* Other Health Services Issues
* Education, Patient and Family
* Atypical Neuroleptics
* Conventional Neuroleptics

Get information about faster international access.

Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2003 American Psychiatric Association. All rights reserved.

Home | Search | Current Issue | Past Issues | Subscribe | All APPI Journals | Help | Contact Us

American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc. American Psychiatric Association
1000 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 1825, Arlington, VA 22209-3901 * 800-368-5777 * appi at psych.org