Drugs and Group Psychotherapy in Neurotic Depression
LINO COVI M.D.1,
RONALD S. LIPMAN PH.D.2,
LEONARD R. DEROGATES PH.D.3,
JAMES E. SMITH III M.D.4, , and
JOSEPH H. PATTISON M.D.5
1 Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Md. 21205 and Director, Outpatient Department, Gundry Hospital, Baltimore
2 Chief, Clinical Studies Section, Psychopharmacology Research Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, Rockville, Md.
3 Assistant Professor of Medical Psychology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Md. 21205
4 Instructor in Psychiatry, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Md. 21205
5 Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Md. 21205
Chronically depressed neurotic women outpatients were randomly assigned, after a two-week placebo washout period, to receive one of three medications (imipramine, diazepam, or placebo) and to either weekly group psychotherapy or biweekly brief supportive sessions at one of two clinics. Analyses of covariance for the first 16 weeks of active treatment (N = 146) indicated a marked therapeutic advantage for imipramine on most of the outcome measures. No advantage for group therapy was detected on these measures. Patients who showed improvement were continued in further controlled drug treatment for up to a total of 71 weeks; preliminary analyses of this phase showed some continuing advantage for treatment with imipramine.
