Fewer psychiatrists are offering patients psychotherapy, according to a study from Johns Hopkins University. Instead, they are more likely to prescribe drugs. Patient visits that used to be 45-minute psychotherapy sessions are now more likely to last only 15 minutes.

Dr. Ramin Mojtabai analyzed data from psychiatrists' offices from 1996 to 2005, and found that psychotherapy visits dropped from 44 percent in 1996 to 29 percent in 2005. Other studies have shown that certain patients, including teenagers with depression, have the best chance of recovery if they receive both medication and psychotherapy.

Dr. Eric Plakun, a member of the American Psychiatric Association's Committee on Psychotherapy, said doctors have entered into "the age of the brain," and now focus on the biology of mental illness. He noted that some patients receive therapy from social workers or mental health professionals.

"Either way I'm worried about our patients," he said, because patients should be offered "a range of services," not just medication.

"If all you have is a hammer," he said, "everything looks like a nail."

This study appears in the Archives of General Psychiatry.

Labels: mental_health, psychiatric_illness, therapy