Posted by sid on January 26, 2002, at 11:43:44
In reply to Re: David Burns-Emme, posted by OldSchool on January 25, 2002, at 11:25:47
It is a brain illness, we all know that much. What many people don't realize is that our behavior and thoughts affect our brain chemistry. So if CBT can help, why discard it?
Yes, many psychologists are bad ones. One needs to be choosy and careful. Heck, CBT can be learned on one's own, reading about it. The effect of behavior and thoughts on the brain have been known for thousands of years. Indeed, yoga is based on that and has existed for at least 5000 years. The western take on yoga is CBT. Nothing new there; new techniques, westernized approach. What's new is neurologist's realization that it can work indeed.
I just don't understand why some people posting here are so stubborn in their views on CBT. I take meds, I use CBT, I practice yoga, and I don't plan to be on this web site posting for very much longer, simply because I will heal myself using all I can to do so. The very fact that a person has dealt with depression for years, and that meds have not worked, should make them look for alternatives. Anyway. It has helped me, continues to do so, and I will continue to use the concepts of CBT on a daily basis. And my depression was VERY brain based. It happended to me during one of the best times of my life, when I should have felt great, surprisingly. I ended up staying in bed 22 hours a day for an entire week before I went to look for help (remaining 2 hours were spent going to the bathroom, showering, eating and crying while sitting in a chair). And I had a constant headache ("the depression headache," I used to call it) during my major depression, making it clear that somewhere in my head, something was not working the way it should. And CBT helped to get out of it. It took time, but the difference with meds is that CBT stays with me forever. I am convinced that I have smaller chances of having depression again because I did not rely only on meds.
That was my 2 cents, and I hope it can help other people.
poster:sid
thread:75408
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020124/msgs/91678.html