Is there a difference in the way medications and psychotherapy work in the treatment of depression?

Psychotherapy is a series of private talks with a therapist where you discuss the feelings, thoughts and behavior that cause difficulty. The goal of psychotherapy is to help you understand and master your problems so you can function better. Psychotherapy can help with the symptoms of depression, such as feelings of guilt and worthlessness, sadness, anger, doubt and indecision. Depression often is related to experiences or problems you have in your relationships with important people such as family, lovers and friends. Through psychotherapy, you can examine and improve these relationships, or grieve and move beyond those that have been lost.

Antidepressant medications also help treat the psychological symptoms of depression, such as guilt, hopelessness and anxiety. They are particularly effective in treating the neurovegetative symptoms of depression. Neurovegetative is a medical term referring to the physical symptoms commonly seen in depression, such as the loss of appetite (or excessive appetite), difficulty concentrating, feeling very nervous or being unable to sit still.

The article is one of a series of articles about depression by the American Psychiatric Association (APA). From Guidelines for Adolescent Depression in Primary Care (GLAD-PC) ToolKit (Zucherbrot, Ed) , http://www.kidsmentalhealth.org/GLAD-PC.html