CBT Session

Many residential treatment programs for drug and alcohol abuse use cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to help patients overcome the negative thought patterns that lead to addiction.  A new study indicates that CBT may also help those patients with symptoms of depression.  Substance abuse and depression often co-occur, but some rehab programs do not attempt to treat both conditions. Because the two conditions interact, treatment outcomes are poorer when only one condition is addressed.

The new study was funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and completed by researchers at the RAND Corporation.  Data was collected from Los Angeles treatment facilities that alternated between providing treatment with and without CBT over a period of 4 months.  About 300 patients participated in the study and most were suffering from both substance abuse and severe depression.

After 3 months, 56% of the patients who received CBT had minimal symptoms of depression.  In the group that did not receive CBT, only about 30% showed an improvement in their depression.  Six months after patients were released from residential treatment, the group that received CBT had fewer incidents of drug abuse and drinking than the group that did not receive the additional treatment.

More Info on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is a focused, short-term form of treatment that is based on the assumption that education can be used to help individuals overcome substance abuse.  It teaches patients how to recognize and avoid situations that are associated with abuse and provides tools for coping with the behaviors that lead to abuse.  When used to treat depression, CBT enables patients to change false beliefs that cause negative moods.  By substituting healthy thoughts and behaviors for unhealthy ones, the patient’s mood and behavior are improved.

CBT is especially useful in treating patients with depression that does not respond to medication or who suffer frequent relapses.  Patients who are battling substance abuse are not good candidates for depression medication, so CBT is a promising treatment option for patients with co-occurring disorders.

According to Katherine E. Watkins, MD, MSHS of the RAND Corporation, “Typically, about a quarter of people bring treated for a substance use disorder have a co-occurring depressive disorder. In general, substance abuse programs don’t provide mental health treatment, so people in substance abuse treatment who have both disorders rarely get treatment for their depression.”  Dr. Watkins would like to see more substance abuse counselors receive training in CBT in order to provide mental health care along with substance abuse treatment.