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11.04.2025

Cognitive behavioral therapy helps depression better when combined with creatine supplementation

The treatment of depression with cognitive behavioral therapy becomes more effective when patients use creatine. This is evident from a trial published in European Neuropsychopharmacology.

Study
In the trial published by British researchers in January 2025, one hundred people with depression received cognitive behavioral therapy for eight weeks. During this period, half of the subjects took a placebo daily, while the remaining subjects took 5 grams of creatine daily. Both the placebo and the creatine were in capsules.

Before and after the supplementation, the researchers determined the severity of the depression using the PHQ-9 questionnaire. You can see this questionnaire below. Click on it for a larger version.

The table below explains what the scores mean.

Results
Before the trial began, the subjects' depression scores averaged almost 18. This means that we are talking about a moderate but full-fledged depression.

The placebo group saw that score drop to 12. This means that the moderate depression changed into a mild depression. In the creatine group, however, the score dropped to 6. SAt means that there were no more depressive symptoms.

The figure below is incomplete. Click on it for a full version.

Mechanism
"Our finding that creatine could augment the effect of cognitive-behavioural therapy is novel and its mechanistic basis unknown", write the researchers.

"An earlier randomised controlled trial had shown that creatine could improve cognitive measures in patients with unipolar and bipolar depression." [Bipolar Disord. 2007 Nov;9(7):754-8.]

"Low levels of creatine in the prefrontal cortex have been associated with depressive symptomatology, thus restoring prefrontal creatine and related metabolites could be of importance for effective psychotherapy because this brain area is implicated in cognitive-behavioural therapy functioning."

"Whether similar benefits could be observed for other psychological treatments requires further research."

"It is possible that creatine could express a direct antidepressant activity, as advised by some experimental data."

Source:
Eur Neuropsychopharmacol. 2025 Jan:90:28-35.

More:
Supplementation with 5-HTP and creatine dispels stubborn depression 20.04.2023
Creatine makes depression treatment with SSRIs more effective 01.03.2022

Archives:
Psychology
Depression
Creatine

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