Treatment Online

Business Journal Embraces Efficacy of Tele-therapy
> 1/22/2008 2:29:48 PM

Depression can cripple individuals, and it can also undermine entire companies and economies. While the very real costs of depression have long been recognized by psychiatrists, it is only recently that businesses are starting to realize that emotional problems can directly affect the bottom line, and that they can be ameliorated with effective and cost-efficient tele-therapy methods. Proof of this trend can be found this month in Industrial Engineer Magazine, a publication known for its pragmatic approach to business solutions.

The study, funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, compared outcomes from a group of employees handled by traditional care with a group receiving telephone therapy. The respective rates of recovery were 17.7% and 26.2%, and those in phone therapy who did not fully recover still had lower levels of depression severity.

These recovery numbers do not just reflect a subjective alleviation of suffering; the study found significant gains in productivity. The phone intervention group gained the equivalent of two days a week in recovered productivity compared to the traditional group. In addition, they were able to keep their jobs 92.6% of the time as opposed to 88%. Higher job retention leads to significant savings, as the cost of a job search and retraining are considerable.

This study appeared previously in the Journal of the American Medical Association, but the coverage it is getting now from Industrial Engineer Magazine is important because it shows that ideas from the academic world are finally penetrating the business world. Depression is both emotionally and financially costly, and the more people realize that tele-therapy can offer definite solutions, the more sufferers will get access to effective treatment.

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