Effectiveness of treating depression with eye movement desensitization and reprocessing among inpatients–A follow-up study over 12 months
Patients with severe depression received an integrated systemic treatment approach including EMDR therapy in a naturalistic hospital setting.
Article Abstract
“Increasing prevalence of depression poses a huge challenge to the healthcare systems, and the success rates of current standard therapies are limited. While 30% of treated patients do not experience a full remission after treatment, more than 75% of patients suffer from recurrent depressive episodes. Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy represents an emerging treatment option of depression, and preliminary studies show promising effects with a probably higher remission rate when compared to control-therapies such as cognitive behavioral therapy. In the present study, 49 patients with severe depression were treated with an integrated systemic treatment approach including EMDR therapy that followed a specific protocol with a treatment algorithm for depression in a naturalistic hospital setting. Following their discharge from the hospital, the patients were followed up by a structured telephone interview after 3 and 12 months. 27 of the 49 (55%) patients fulfilled the Beck’s depression criteria of a full remission when they were discharged. At the follow-up interview, 12 months after discharge, 7 of the 27 patients (26%) reported a relapse, while the remaining 20 patients (74%) had stayed relapse-free. The findings of our observational study confirm reports of earlier studies in patients with depression, showing that EMDR therapy leads to a high rate of remission, and is associated with a decreased number of relapses. Patients with depression receiving EMDR treatment may be more resilient to stressors.”
—Description from publisher
Article Access
Open Access
Altmeyer, S., Wollersheim, L., Kilian-Hutten, N., Behnke, A., Hofmann, A., & Tumani, V. (2022). Effectiveness of treating depression with eye movement desensitization and reprocessing among inpatients – A follow-up study over 12 months. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 937204. Open access: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.937204
Date
August 10, 2022
Creator(s)
Susanne Altmeyer, Leonie Wollersheim, Niclas Kilian-Hütten
Contributor(s)
Alexander Behnke, Arne Hofmann, Visal Tumani
Topics
Depression
Practice & Methods
Hospital
Extent
8 pages
Publisher
Frontiers
Rights
© 2022 Altmeyer, Wollersheim, Kilian-Hütten, Behnke, Hofmann and Tumani. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
APA Citation
Altmeyer, S., Wollersheim, L., Kilian-Hutten, N., Behnke, A., Hofmann, A., & Tumani, V. (2022). Effectiveness of treating depression with eye movement desensitization and reprocessing among inpatients – A follow-up study over 12 months. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 937204. Open access: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.937204
Audience
EMDR Therapists, Other Mental Health Professionals
Language
English
Content Type
Article, Peer-Reviewed
Access Type
External Resource, Open Access
