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| Cognitive Therapy and
Depression Uzma Mazhar © 2001 Depression is a mood disorder that is
brought on by overly negative interpretations of our selves and the events
in our life. Negative thinking is one of the causes of depression;
biological changes and catastrophic events also cause depression.
Regardless of cause, negative thinking is always present when one
is depressed. One negative thought leads to another and another and
another, so when left unchecked it automatically spirals one down. Another symptom of depression is withdrawal
and isolation. When the depressed person pulls away from others, he is
less likely to be distracted from negative thinking. Depression also
causes "anhedonia", a lack of pleasure.
Depressed people are less likely to engage in pleasurable
activities. Social skills are influenced by depression as well. Depressed
people tend not to put as much effort into their appearance, body language
and mannerisms, and their communication style tends to be negative. Negative thinking feeds depression.
Some of the most commonly used Styles
of Distorted Thinking that makes matters worse are:
‘awfulizing’ (making things worse than they are); ‘black and white
thinking’ (dichotomous thinking without considering the grey areas),
etc. When depressed people
learn to identify their style of cognitive distortions and replace them
with more realistic interpretations, depression can be reduced, and the
likelihood of experiencing episodes of depression in the future also
decreases. Cognitive therapy also focuses on the other symptoms of
depression, working to help the patient reduce isolation, increase
pleasurable activities and improve social skills. This often requires
making behavioral changes. With depression, motivation does not typically
occur until after the patient has initiated the behaviors. This may sound overly simplistic.
Though the idea of thoughts causing feelings is quite simple, the
distortions in processing the information that occurs in depression are
quite complex. Just "thinking positively" is not
going to decrease depression in any lasting way. Though depressed people
do not engage in a great deal of positive thinking, it is not just the
absence of positive thoughts but the frequency of negative thoughts that
perpetuate depressed mood. Advice
to "think positively!" or to engage in "positive
affirmations" like "I'm a good person" often doesn’t
work. Positive thinking alone will not alleviate depression. Saying
"I'm doing a great job" will not work when for the majority of
the day your automatic thoughts are self-critical and hopeless.
So even though you're telling yourself positive things, you still believe negative things. Changing your negative beliefs (not just
thoughts) will change the outcome. For
this you need to know your conscious and subconscious beliefs. Thoughts lead to feelings and feelings lead to action.
The way life is playing out reflects your ‘real’ beliefs.
If it is negative then deep down your beliefs are negative.
Check your beliefs. © Uzma Mazhar 2001 UzmaMazhar@hotmail.com
Read the article on Journaling: A Tool for Self-Awareness for suggestions to uncover the subconscious beliefs. Also check: |
