1.5.1.2 For people with moderate or severe depression, provide a combination of antidepressant medication and a high-intensity psychological intervention (CBT or IPT).
So, for moderate or severe depression, the standard initial treatment is an SSRI and therapy.
For less severe depression, though, the guidance is to start with non-pharmaceutical options, and only move to drugs if those don't work.
I'm not saying that 2014 treatment is magical. But there are some important differences:
There's now a recognition of "subthreshold depressive symptoms" - which are troubling and unpleasant but which either would have been missed in the past or would have been treated solely with medication.
Other stuff is much more important now. "A wide range of biological, psychological and social factors, which are not captured well by current diagnostic systems, have a significant impact on the course of depression and the response to treatment."
We're using DSM IV, not ICD10, which "* also makes it less likely that a diagnosis of depression will be based solely on symptom counting.*"
To get the therapy in the UK the person would self-refer to an IAPT (improved access to psychological therapy) style course. That would carry some kind of assessment of need, and the person would thus have another check (the first would be the GP) to see if they need specialist secondary care.
The important stuff here for the OP is much more concentration on therapy not just medication; and much more concentration on how the person is coping with life not just counting symptoms. Of course, some places do this much better than others.
2014 looks pretty similar.
1.5.1.2 For people with moderate or severe depression, provide a combination of antidepressant medication and a high-intensity psychological intervention (CBT or IPT).
So, for moderate or severe depression, the standard initial treatment is an SSRI and therapy.
For less severe depression, though, the guidance is to start with non-pharmaceutical options, and only move to drugs if those don't work.