Behavioral Activation as an Intervention for Coexistent Depressive and Anxiety Symptoms

Abstract

In recent years, behavioral activation approaches have been used to treat individuals with clinical depression. Extension of these strategies toward individuals presenting with coexistent depressive and anxiety symptoms may represent a parsimonious, practical, and time-and cost-effective treatment method. The present study outlines a case in which coexistent anxiety and depressive symptoms predominate, a clinical presentation made somewhat more complex given an Axis III diagnosis of colitis. A brief behavioral activation treatment for depression (BATD) is used to simultaneously incorporate activation and exposure strategies to ameliorate affective symptoms. Following a 10-session treatment protocol, the patient demonstrated notable decreases in self-reported anxiety and depressive symptoms and increased quality of life. Although these data are preliminary, they suggest some efficacy for BATD as a viable treatment alternative for individuals with a mixed anxiety-depressive disorder presentation.