The Healthy Activity Program manual aims at providing counsellors like you with information about counselling patients with moderate to severe Depression in primary care settings.

Issue Brief no.15, September 2021, updated 19 October 2021

Q7. SCOPING QUESTION: In adults with moderate-severe depressive disorder, what is the effectiveness and safety of antidepressant medication (ADM) in comparison with psychological treatment? The WHO mhGAP programme’...light medbox">s existing guidelines recommend that either structured brief psychological treatments (e.g., interpersonal psychotherapy or cognitive behavioural therapy, including behavioural activation) or antidepressant medication (e.g., SSRIsi and tricyclic antidepressants) be considered in adults with moderate-severe depression. Health care workers need to know whether these treatments have different effects, including side-effects, in treating depressive disorder in the short and long term, in order to improve clinical decision-making. more