Treatment Interrupts Depression Early

"20 sessions of individual CBT are offered over 16 weeks, conducted 1-on-1, with a trained and supervised therapist. Participants will learn about the cognitive, behavioural, emotional, and environmental factors which contribute to maintaining their depression. They will apply skills to interrupt unhelpful cognitive and behavioural patterns and engage in guided exploration to improve self-understanding. CBT is a structured and collaborative treatment. Weekly homework will be used to maximize opportunities for practice and consolidation of new skills. The individual sessions can be combined with optional family/parent/partner sessions, depending on the situation and preferences of the participant. All sessions will be video-recorded to allow high-quality supervision, fidelity- and quality-assurance. This corresponds to evidence available for CBT for adolescents and young adults that is established as the best practice through rigorous trials."

The choice of antidepressants follows best-established evidence for treating depression in adolescents and young adults. We will offer treatment with fluoxetine, starting at 10mg a day, increasing to 20mg a day after 1 week if tolerated; a protocol established as safe and effective in adolescents and adults in multiple trials. Additional increases to 40 or 60mg will be possible based on positive effects and side-effects and clinical judgement, as recommended in this age group. In cases of intolerance or adverse reaction to fluoxetine, we will switch to sertraline (25-200mg) or escitalopram (5-20mg), two antidepressants licensed by the FDA for major depressive disorder in adolescents. Treatment will be optimized over 16 weeks, a time-frame comparable to the CBT arm. Pharmacotherapy will be managed and prescribed by qualified psychiatrists when starting treatment and reviewed after 1 week, 2 weeks and then in 2-weekly intervals for the remainder of the 16 weeks acute treatment period.