ABSTRACT
Depression is a major public health problem across the world. Antidepressants are the front line treatment, but many patients either do not respond to them, or do not like taking them. The main alternative is psychotherapy, and the modern ‘talking treatments’ such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) have been shown to be as effective as drugs, and probably more so when it comes to relapse. But there is a problem, namely availability-there are simply not enough skilled therapists to meet the demand, and little prospect at all of this situation changing.
