Posted by alexandra_k on September 25, 2006, at 1:37:20
In reply to How well does CBT work for depression, posted by saturn on September 23, 2006, at 20:23:04
I think that seeing different therapists can be a little like trying different medications. Sometimes it takes a while to find a therapist / medication that is helpful for you.
CBT is fairly much (to my mind) an educational program.
Things you learn about include:
- How activity relates to mood. If you can bring yourself to do some exercise then that results in the release of endorphins. It is jolly hard to remain depressed when endorphins are being released in your brain.
- How oversleep can result in tiredness... If you get more sleep than you need then you can feel depressed and sluggish and in need of even more sleep... That can be a vicious cycle that it is hard to break out of.
- Nutrition. How different kinds of foods can impact on your mood and how vitamin deficiencies etc can impact too.
- Nice activities. While they may not feel enjoyable doing what you like to do and forcing oneself back into a routine can help one start to enjoy what you are doing.Sometimes therapy can help because your therapist can assign you little homework tasks that are hard but manageable for you depending on where you are at. Possible homework tasks could be things like going for a 20 minute walk once per day or doing some activity daily that you typically find enjoyment in. Therapists can help you find the motivation to do the little tasks. Sometimes when we are left to our own devices we don't do them because we don't feel like it. When we know we have to report to our therapist sometimes we can find the motivation to do it for them... Then when we start to feel better we can do it for ourself :-)
The 'challenging core beliefs' stuff is... Useful to some people and not so useful to others. I think that the utility of this can be fairly dependent on whether you have a good theraputic relationship or not.
I think it is a chicken or egg question to ask 'what came first, the depression or the thoughts?' In a way it doesn't matter for the purposes of treatment the point is more that one has to interveane to break the cycle somewhere...
The things we tell ourself can have a significant impact on our mood...
Sometimes depression results because people have 'stuffed' their feelings. Therapy can help you get more in touch with what your feelings are and how to express them appropriately instead of stuffing them. That can help one recover and can help prevent relapses.
CBT alone is about as effective as medication alone. A combination of both has been found to be most helpful.
poster:alexandra_k
thread:688984
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20060911/msgs/689006.html