Depression relapse not yet preventable in adolescents

About half of adolescents who undergo treatment for major depression experience a relapse within five years, according to a new Duke study.

Nearly 200 subjects aged 12 to 17 were tested by John Curry, a psychologist in the psychiatry department at Duke University School of Medicine. Each adolescent was treated with fluoxetine (Prozac) alone, cognitive behavior therapy alone or a combination of the two for 12 weeks.

After 36 weeks everyone was exhibiting similar improvements, and by two years most were completely recovered. But by five years, 47 percent had suffered another major depression, regardless of their treatment, reported a New York Times article.

"It looks like we don't have a treatment yet that really prevents reoccurrence," said Curry. "And we don't have much of an indicator while the person is in treatment of how protected they're going to be against reoccurence."

According to the Times, the study also found that girls were more likely to relapse, which was surprising to researchers because, as adults, women are not considered more likely to have a reoccurrence.