Patients prescribed self-help books on the NHS showed an improvement within a year compared to those provided with the conventional care. The self-help treatment includes books and sessions on how to use them alongside typical treatments such as antidepressants.
The Scottish study, reported in the journal Plos One, involved more than 200 patients and was carried out by the University of Glasgow. Each had been diagnosed with depression by their GP and half were also on antidepressants.
The self-help books given to some patients included guides of dealing with their illness while those patients were also given three sessions with an advisor whose job was to show them how to use the books most effectively and implement any changes suggested.
In a follow-up four months after the books and guided sessions had been arranged, those in that group had much lower levels of depression than the patients who continued to receive care from their GP. A year later, the self-help group patients were still dealing better with their illness than the others.
The study concluded that this self-help approach could help the NHS manage the demand for therapy more effectively by engaging patients better. As the advice sessions can be managed by GP practices, the pressure on specialist referrals would be reduced, potentially saving the NHS up to £272million a year and saving the wider public sector £700million by improving the health and wellbeing of individuals with depression.
The study did acknowledge that self-help therapy might not be suitable or effective for every person with depression, as it requires each individual to take personal responsibility for attending the advice sessions and using the self-help books.
Comments are closed.