The advantage of early treatment intervention in recurrent depression.

Two key questions regarding the treatment of depression remain unanswered: whether early treatment intervention will shorten the length of the episode and whether a previously successful treatment will be associated with a more rapid response when administered during the subsequent episode. A group of 45 patients with recurrent major depression treated with combined pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy in a similar fashion for two consecutive episodes showed comparable mean times to stabilization of between 11 and 12 weeks. However, the early intervention in the second treatment episode significantly shortened the overall length of the depressive episode by approximately 4 to 5 months.