Question

How does the effectiveness of psychotherapy compare to the use of drugs in treating psychological disorders? Please explain in 4 to 5 sentences.

Answer 1

Note: This response is in UK English, please paste the response to MS Word and you should be able to spot discrepancies easily. Also, I had to use cited information as this answer is not a matter of opinion but about results of research. You can shorten the answer based on what you need.

(Answer) Psychotherapy: It involves talking, therapeutic exercises and such treatment. This helps the psychologist get to the bottom of the disorder and chalk out session plans to slowly address the disorder.

Pharmacotherapy: It involved administering drugs and suppressants to the patient to help alleviate the symptoms of the disorder.

Comparison: Both therapies are required in regulation to help find the cause, solve the issue and ameliorate the symptoms so that the patient can recover without the burden of stress from the symptoms.

“One hundred and fifty-three outcome trials involving 29 879 participants with depressive disorders were identified.” The results of this study stated that, “Despite the small number of comparative trials for some of the analyses, this study reveals that combined treatment is superior, but psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy alone are also efficacious for improving functioning and quality of life.” In this study, both pills and therapy by themselves are effective. However, both approaches combined together bring the best results.

Kamenov, K., Twomey, C., Cabello, M., Prina, A. M., & Ayuso-Mateos, J. L. (2016). The efficacy of psychotherapy, pharmacotherapy and their combination on functioning and quality of life in depression: a meta-analysis. Psychological Medicine, 47(03), 414-425. doi:10.1017/s0033291716002774

It can be pointed out that the most effective and the safest approach to treating a patient with psychological disorders are both therapy and medication. The regulation and alternation of which should be regulated by a professional.