Depression is a serious medical condition that causes feelings of sadness or lack of interest in normal activities. People with depression are not weak, but are facing a complex medical issue and usually need help from a doctor and/or therapist. Their symptoms might be physical, like headaches, stomach aches, or back pain that doesn’t have another explanation, or emotional, like crying, emptiness, or hopelessness. They may not have any explanation for why they feel this way, which can be even more frustrating.
Depression affects about one in six adults, according to the Centers for Disease Control. It can happen at any age, to any gender, although women are twice as likely to develop depression. Finding a treatment plan that works can be difficult — that’s why we spoke with Mike Sumner, Chief Medical Officer at Orexo about deprexis®, a digital therapy that can be added to what a person is already doing to treat their depression, and about roadblocks people with depression face in seeking treatment.
“For people trying to access psychotherapy, it’s difficult,” he said. “I can give you an example, I was looking for a therapist for a close friend. And even though we have a trained clinical psychologist on staff, it still took me four phone calls before there was an open slot [with a therapist they recommended]. The choice was either you come at 2 p.m. on Monday, or you can come at 2 p.m. on Monday.”
Scheduling conflicts and transportation can make in-person psychotherapy logistically difficult. That’s where the online therapy deprexis® can help meet the needs of people with depression. As a customized experience, deprexis® uses artificial intelligence-guided technology to deliver tailored cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)-based techniques to the user. CBT has been shown to be effective in the treatment of depression. deprexis® is available to users who have access to an internet browser whenever and wherever they are ready to start a session and begin tackling their depression.
“There are some people who would be nervous about going to a therapist. I don’t believe therapists are confrontational in any way, but to actually go in and see a therapist and be willing and open to talk about yourself is not a natural thing for everybody. So [deprexis®] gives them another choice,” said Sumner.
Among the choices of digital therapy platforms, deprexis® stands out as one of the most well-researched. Eleven clinical trials have proven it helps to reduce symptoms of depression in over a decade of research. Our research suggests that deprexis® is one of the only digital therapy choices to integrate artificial intelligence, creating a personalized approach to each user’s therapy. The program is self-paced, and available anytime and anywhere the user has internet access.
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is the backbone of the deprexis® program. CBT is built on a foundation of recognizing problematic thinking and behavior patterns and changing them through applied practice.
“We recommend people to use it up to 30 minutes, once or twice a week. And that is a part of delivering cognitive behavioral therapy. It’s all about changing your thought process. So examining the inputs, things that might make you sad or don’t make you feel great, and then analyzing that and providing different options. That thought process change takes time. So we don’t necessarily want a person to run through the program as fast as possible. We want them to take in the content, practice it, and get it cemented into their behavior, because that’s what’s going to give them a longer-term clinical benefit,” said Sumner.
deprexis® is proven to help reduce depression symptoms. Improvement in depression symptoms among people who added deprexis® to what they were already doing to treat their depression has been shown in different clinical situations. One study specifically looked at how long symptom improvement lasted after ending deprexis®. Improvement was still present three months following the end of therapy.
deprexis® is available in nine languages including Spanish, French, German, and Portuguese. When an individual decides they’d like to try deprexis®, they can begin by visiting the website. There they can get assistance with determining whether insurance coverage is available and purchasing an access code. For more information, call 1-833-DEPREXIS, or email contact@deprexissupport.com.
deprexis® is a web application indicated for the adjunctive treatment of chronic or recurrent depression or depressive disorders as a primary or secondary diagnosis (eg, as a comorbidity in multiple sclerosis or epilepsy) for patients 18 years of age or older who are experiencing a depressive episode. deprexis® is not a healthcare provider and does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or standalone treatment. If you need immediate medical attention, please contact your healthcare provider or go to the closest emergency room.