Psychosocial interventions?

doi:10.1136/bmj.39360.457743.BE

BMJ 2007;335:736 (13 October), doi:10.1136/bmj.39360.457743.BE

Letters

More going ape

Psychosocial interventions?

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Given that the serotonin theory of depression has been dismissedas a myth propagated by the drug industry,¹ and given the efficacyof psychosocial interventions, I was surprised that Pop consideredonly a pharmacological approach when treating a depressed gorilla.²

While even the most enthusiastic evangelists of cognitive behaviourtherapy might acknowledge the limitations of cognitive restructuringin a gorilla, more pragmatic activity scheduling and behaviouralactivation both have a good evidence base as stand alone treatmentsfor depression.

Damasio conceptualised emotional experience as being embeddedwithin visceral and musculoskeletal states.³ In depression,reduced efferent activity from the peripheral nervous systemcan be stimulated by dance movement therapy, another provedtreatment for depression.⁴

Ayurvedic philosophy, and more recently Harrison et al,⁵ haveshown an association between low mood and overcrowding. Thiscould be the case at the zoo, and a letter in support of rehousing,the ubiquitous default intervention of . . . [Full text of this article]

Dave W H Baillie, specialist registrar in adult psychiatry

East London and the City Mental Health NHS Trust, London N16 0LN

Dave.Baillie@elcmht.nhs.uk