Complaints & connections · borters.ch
The most broadly studied approach for mental complaints — with numbers on sessions and duration.
Also known as: psychotherapy · talking therapy · CBT
Open in the tool — with search and all the links →This compilation is for information and replaces neither medical diagnosis nor treatment. If you have symptoms, see a doctor.
Psychotherapy is a collective name for several approaches: cognitive behavioural therapy, psychodynamic therapy, systemic therapy, EMDR and others. The most densely studied is cognitive behavioural therapy; typical trial amounts run from 8 to 20 weekly sessions of 50 minutes. In comparisons between recognised approaches the differences are small — larger is the difference between treatment and none, and a recurring finding is how much rests on the relationship between the two people. Effect takes time: under about four to six weeks, trials usually see nothing.
An underactive thyroid, an iron or B12 shortfall, a sleep problem and some medicines can produce the same picture as depression. That is not an argument against psychotherapy — it is why the blood values come at the start and not at the end.