[Severe depression : psychological aspects of management]

Abstract

Severe depressions are not an easy target for psychotherapy, because of intense cognitive disability linked to emotional and motivational symptoms. But psychotherapy remains an important tool for the relapse prevention : this is the case for cognitive-behavioral therapies (CBT), and, at a lesser level of proof, mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT). Finally, positive psychology (PP) will maybe offer in a near future some interventions (on optimism, social link, emotional balance...) who shall represent new possibilities in the quest of relapse prevention for those vulnerable patients.