Harvard Mental Health Letter: January 2009

For people who do not respond successfully to medication as treatment for depression, electroconvulsive therapy may be a viable option, though some patients are reluctant to try the treatment due to its possible side effects.

An analysis of hospital-based programs to assist smokers in quitting found that only those that followed inpatient treatment with continued counseling and support after discharge were successful.

A study of treatments for anxiety disorders in children showed that medication and cognitive behavioral therapy were both effective, and that the combination of the two was even more so.

A small study found that people with social phobia who read a negative statement about themselves had increased brain activity in the amygdala and prefrontal cortex that the control patients did not have.

The federal government has enacted a mental health parity law intended to provide greater financial protection for people in need of mental health treatment. A separate law has also established similar protections for Medicare patients.

People who seek treatment for alcohol dependence sometimes attempt to drink in moderation rather than abstain altogether. The success of this approach largely depends on whether the patient has already established a high degree of dependence.

The American Heart Association, acknowledging a correlation between heart disease and depression, is recommending that doctors treating patients with heart disease should ask questions to screen for possible signs of depression.