Do It Yourself Therapy: Is It For You?

Are you tired of the traditional treatments for depression? You know the ones ... medication that takes weeks to kick in and even longer before you see any serious results. Or therapy that can take several months to several years to show any real progress. In the next couple of weeks I'll be telling you about a different approach called Cognitive Therapy. There are many different types of Cognitive Therapy, but for our purposes today, I'll be referring to the principles of Dr. David Burns.

In the book, "Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy," Dr. David Burns explains his motivation in developing the principles behind Cognitive Therapy. The traditional methods of treating depression were too slow and in some cases didn't work at all. A depressed person needs relief from their symptoms right away, so why should they have to wait for medication to kick in? The idea with Cognitive Therapy is that a person can apply these principles to themselves and that progress can be swift (there are also Cognitive Therapists available for assistance). An added benefit is that people can potentially prevent themselves from going into a depression in the future? Sound too good to be true?

The first principle and basis of the whole theory is that all of a person's moods are created by their own cognitions. A cognition is basically how something is perceived (attitudes and beliefs being projected into a person's thoughts). Obviously there are cases in which this therapy will not apply (for example depression that is caused by chemical imbalance and not by environmental causes) but applying the principles can be positive for anyone in any situation. Upsetting situations on television or in a book can influence a person's thoughts and therefore influence their moods. Take this theory into consideration when going about your day and you may find influences that need to be avoided.

The second principle is that depression itself causes negativity to control the depressed person's thoughts. This isn't a newsflash. We all know that when we are depressed, negative thoughts seem to feed off of one another and multiply like mad. It seems like a vicious cycle that you cannot get out of. When optimistic, a person is said to be looking at the world through "rose colored glasses," so what does a depressed person look through? Distorted glasses? The worst part about being so negative is that a person who thinks this way may come to believe that things are actually as bad as they seem.

Go To Page: 1 2

Articles in this Topic    Discussions in this Topic