A recent U.S. study has found that receiving psychotherapy through text message exchanges between patients and therapists can effectively help treat mild to moderate depression.
The research revealed that patients engaging in text-based therapy showed comparable improvements to those attending weekly video-based sessions. The clinical trial involved 850 randomly selected adults who participated in therapy sessions either via video conferencing or through text messaging with licensed therapists over a 12-week period.
Interestingly, the study found that participants in the text-based group were less likely to miss sessions compared to those attending video sessions. However, volunteers in the video sessions reported that therapists seemed slightly more empathetic, suggesting that the personal connection between therapist and patient may be stronger during live interactions.
Dr Patricia Aryan from Washington University School of Medicine said, “We were surprised to find that text-based therapy achieved the same results as video sessions. We truly observed no significant differences in outcomes.”
Meanwhile, Dr Mark Olfsen, professor of psychiatry at Columbia University’s Irving Medical Centre, noted that the findings support the idea of offering more treatment options. He added that text-based therapy could be a practical alternative for patients with mild depression, increasing accessibility without compromisingeffectiveness.
