THE’behavioral activation It is a technique that uses functional analysis and modification of behavior to increase positive environmental reinforcements and functional behaviors, a source of pleasure and rewarding, counteracting the intrinsic tendency to depression to avoid a large part of life situations and activities that are not closely linked to “duties” (e.g. accompany children to school, commit to work, etc.).
These avoidance behaviors, in fact, as instinctive as the mood lowers in a depressive episodethey become important factors of maintaining the disorder, both for the deprivation of reinforcements and because they increase the “empty” time very much with the increase in the transcription and rumination activities that have a well -known negative impact on the mood itself.
Antidepressant -based pharmacotherapy is considered the most effective treatment for the major depressionpossibly in association with cognitive therapy, whose effectiveness is not so clear and has been questioned in many scientific studies.
The behavioral activation, despite being a non -new technique, seems to be a valid alternative and has recently been subjected to numerous research trials that have compared its effect with the pharmacotherapy and the cognitive therapy.
In fact, a recent study published on Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology (http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-006x.74.4.658) on over 240 patients with major depression, he showed how behavioral activation has an effect comparable to that of drugs and higher than that of cognitive therapy, especially for subjects with more serious levels of depression.
These data must necessarily be taken into consideration in setting up the Psychotherapeutic treatment of depressed patientsdedicating the right attention to the behavioral techniques of proven effectiveness and with strong empirical support.
