Study Finds Evidence That Text-Based Therapy Eases Depression

Three Little Dots: First, there was in-person talk therapy, then video teletherapy, and now … text therapy? If it seems like it couldn’t possibly be effective, you might be surprised. A new large-scale randomized trial found therapy via text, audio, and video messages is as good as video therapy for treating depression.

The Study: Researchers recruited 850 U.S. adults diagnosed with depression and randomly assigned them to a treatment group for 12 weeks. One group received text-based psychotherapy and could exchange messages with their therapist anytime. The other group did 30- to 45-minute live weekly video sessions with a therapist. Both groups had similar reductions in depression symptoms and improvements in social functioning. Those receiving video therapy were slightly more likely to recommend that type of treatment to others. 

The Takeaway: One of the main barriers to therapy is finding room in busy schedules to actually go to appointments. Text-based therapy could potentially allow for more access to and contact with a therapist. And there are already services out there that provide it like this one. 

Keep In Mind: One limitation of the study is there wasn’t a no-treatment group as another means of comparison, so it’s possible participants improved naturally. But the rate of remission was far higher than what’s typical for spontaneous recovery.