A recent U.S. scientific study has found that receiving psychotherapy sessions through text message exchanges between patients and therapists can help treat mild depression.
اضافة اعلان
The study, published in the journal JAMA, revealed that patients who underwent psychotherapy via text messaging achieved similar levels of improvement as those who attended weekly sessions through video conferencing.
The clinical trial involved 850 adults who were randomly assigned to receive psychotherapy either through video sessions or text message exchanges with licensed therapists over a 12-week period.
Researchers found that participants were less likely to skip sessions when therapy was conducted via text messages compared to video sessions.
However, participants who took part in video-based therapy reported that their therapists appeared more empathetic, suggesting that the emotional connection between patient and therapist might be slightly stronger in live sessions.
Patricia Areán, a researcher at the University of Washington School of Medicine, said: “We were surprised to find that text-based therapy produced the same outcomes as therapy delivered via video sessions.” She told The New York Times: “We didn’t actually find any difference in results.”
Meanwhile, Dr. Mark Olfson, a professor of psychiatry at Columbia University’s Irving Medical Center, told the newspaper that the study’s findings support offering patients more treatment options, noting that it may be reasonable to present text-based therapy as an option for those with mild depression. — Agencies
