Psychotherapy in combination with antidepressant drugs in severely depressed out-patients--20-year evaluation.

Eight hundred fifty-one severely depressed patients were treated on an out-patient basis over a twenty-year period with psychotherapy in combination with antidepressant drug therapy. The selection of patients and treatment technique is described. Eighty-three percent of the patients had excellent or good results within a period of three weeks. These results are compared with those obtained with electroshock treatment or psychotherapy alone.