Dr. Keitner published a description of his program in 2012 (Psychiatr. Clin. North Am. 2012;35:249-65).
Some critics of this new approach fear it is nihilistic, and that telling patients there is no cure for their symptoms will lead to increased suicides, he added. That has not been the case, in his experience. "You’re not telling them anything they don’t know. They have an illness that’s not going to go away," he said. By definition, there are no effective treatments for treatment-resistant depression.
The study excluded patients with bipolar or psychotic disorders, acutely suicidal or substance-abusing patients, and patients currently receiving electroconvulsive therapy.
Dr. Keitner reported having no financial disclosures.
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