Treatment of depressive disorders of spousal caregivers of persons with Alzheimer's disease: A review

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Abstract
A number of studies suggest that spousal caregivers of persons with Alzheimer's disease (AD) have high rates of depressive disorders. Support groups were one of the earliest interventions to help these caregivers, but were found to be unsatisfactory with regard to addressing the affective needs of caregivers. Psycho-educational support groups, focused on helping caregivers to learn new behaviors to solve problems, appear to be the most promising intervention in reducing the depressive levels of these caregivers. Although there is only limited research on psychotherapy and counseling of caregivers, one study suggests the efficacy of cognitive therapy. Future research on psychoeducational cognitive/behavior problem solving groups and cognitive therapy is recommended.