Depression has been called the worst form of emotional and psychological suffering. Hopelessness, helplessness, sadness, lack of pleasure and enjoyment, lack of motivation and concentration, feeling lethargic and having negative thoughts about self and also the world, depression can feel for example a bottomless pit of anguish. But, is depression really best treated with anti-depressants, or can in fact depression be treated just as well or better by training depressed people to look at things from another point of view?
By becoming more positive, optimistic and learning how to see the glass as half full rather than half empty, can people get out of depressive mood and stay symptom free? Recent clinical studies provide strong evidence with the use of such methods with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) as being extremely effective with clients recovering quicker and more completely with low figures of relapse compared to anti-depressants or analytical psychotherapy.
CBT is a therapy based on the principle that your thoughts create your feelings and your feelings create your actions. So, for example, in case you think to yourself “What are the point?” or “Things will never get better, life really sucks” or “Even if I would try to create myself feel better it probably wouldn’t work so I might as well do nothing”, this would make anyone feel deflated, sad, empty, and so on, which in turn will obtain the effect of avoiding making changes or trying new things, and would probably make you just want to pull the duvet over your head and stay in bed all day.
Negative thinking does have a negative effect on our feelings and our actions. Activities become meaningless and pointless in the mind of a depressed person, and therefore they are reluctant to engage even in activities they previously found enjoyable. Basic activities for example getting dressed or tidy up in the home might feel unimportant or pointless due to the downward spiral of negative thinking “there’s no point, what good will it do?”. The truth is that any activity no matter how small will do the world of good. Doing something is of major importance for someone suffering from depression as it will act to be a catalyst. Doing something, for example getting dressed in the morning will create some sense of satisfaction and feeling good and it will be an achievement in itself. Also, it will be easier to take the next step of going outside, trip around the shops maybe. One small step will help with another small step and enhance the motivation to continue for the treatment.
So, how can a depressed person have their negative thoughts turned into positive ones and obtain motivated to take charge and solve their problems? Negative and unhelpful thoughts must be acknowledged and written down to find out in detail what they are about. Those thoughts can then be evaluated and graded in terms of how useful, true or constructive they are. Questions for example “Is it possible that this way of thinking is not 100% true or realistic? Are you discounting the positive and only focusing on the negative?” where negativity is challenged, will provide reflection on the validity of what the person is saying to themselves. If it’s not completely true or realistic; “Why not? and next why would you reckon that way?”.
Crucially, it is also important to come up with a positive and realistic thought, such as; “Well, it’s not completely useless, there is a possibility something good could come out of it” which would be a good begin to recognize there are solutions and rewards if one takes a logical and objective ways to a situation. Motivation can be enhanced by asking a depressed person what they would be doing tomorrow or next week if they were not feeling depressed. This can make the mind shift forward and make them think of pleasant things, which can then be incorporated and worked with to be a goal. Small steps and stages are also good for keeping motivation going, by breaking down tasks and doing little by little. Reward and praise for any progress no matter how small will also make sure steady progress is made.
Recommended reading for cognitive ways to depression: Feeling Good by David Burns.
distress with my wedding – can you help?
distress with my wedding – can you help?
