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August 7 - August 14, 2019
In fact, your thoughts often have much more to do with how you feel than what is actually happening in your life.
research studies indicate that genetic influences appear to account for only about 16 percent of depression.
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These studies show that the newer forms of psychotherapy, especially cognitive therapy, can be at least as effective as drugs, and for many patients appear to be more effective.
Following recovery from depression, patients treated with psychotherapy are more likely to remain undepressed and are significantly less likely to relapse than patients treated with antidepressants alone.
One group received cognitive behavioral therapy and no drugs, and the other group received an antidepressant medication
cognitive behavior therapy—the methods described in this book—may actually help people by changing the chemistry and architecture of the human brain!
studies indicated that cognitive behavior therapy is the most effective treatment for eating disorders—better than any known drug or any other form of
They discovered that Feeling Good bibliotherapy may be as effective as a full course of psychotherapy or treatment with the best antidepressant
at the initial evaluation. You can also see that the average scores for the patients in the Immediate Bibliotherapy
a research assistant called the patients in both groups and administered the BDI by telephone. The assistant also answered any questions patients had about the study and encouraged
1. The patients in the Immediate Bibliotherapy Group (top Chart) received Feeling Good at the intake evaluation. The patients in the Delayed Bibliotherapy Group (bottom chart) received Feeling Good at
To the best of my knowledge, these are the first published scientific studies showing that a self-help book can actually have significant antidepressant effects in patients suffering from episodes of major depression.
very few patients have recovered during the first four weeks of treatment. The percentage of patients who dropped out of the bibliotherapy therapy was also
because patients feel so demoralized. In 1997, the investigators reported the results of a three-year follow-up of the patients in the study I’ve just
improve following the completion of the initial study. The diagnostic findings at the three-year evaluation confirmed this—72 percent of the patients
Remember that you can use the cognitive bibliotherapy between therapy sessions to speed your recovery even if you are in treatment.
The therapists were also asked which self-help books, from a list of one thousand, they most frequently recommended for their patients. Feeling Good was the number-one-rated book for depressed patients, and my Feeling Good Handbook (published as a Plume paperback in 1989) was rated number two.
49, 681–689. 3. Scogin, F., Jamison, C., & Gochneaut, K. (1989). The comparative efficacy of cognitive and behavioral bibliotherapy for mildly and moderately depressed older adults. Journal of Consulting and
thinking, “Cognitive therapy sounds too good to be true. It would never work for me.” If your thoughts run along these lines, you are
The third principle is of substantial philosophical and therapeutic importance. Our research has documented that the negative thoughts which cause your emotional turmoil nearly always contain gross distortions. Although these thoughts appear valid, you will learn that they are irrational or just plain
These investigators have shown that the combination of antidepressant drugs with cognitive therapy can be more effective than either modality above.
In my experience the most crucial predictor of recovery is a persistent willingness to exert some effort to help yourself.
A mild chronic depression that goes on and on is now called “dysthymic disorder.”
In addition to evaluating your total score on the BDC, be sure you pay special attention to items 23, 24, and 25. These items ask about suicidal feelings, urges, and plans.
If your scores on item 24 or 25 are elevated, however, this is a cause for alarm. Seek treatment immediately!
This destructive delusion is merely a symptom of the illness, not a fact.
becomes paralyzed, and your actions defeat you. That’s why you feel so totally down in the dumps. What’s the key to it all? Because depression
has been viewed as an emotional disorder throughout the history of psychiatry, therapists from most schools of thought place
All-or-nothing thinking forms the basis for perfectionism.
The pain of rejection is generated almost entirely from overgeneralization.
Mental Filter. You pick out a negative detail in any situation and dwell on it exclusively, thus perceiving that the whole situation is negative.
Because you are not aware of this “filtering process,” you conclude that everything is negative. The technical name for this process is “selective abstraction.”
Disqualifying the positive is one of the most destructive forms of cognitive distortion.
have happened to you. This removes much of life’s richness and makes things appear needlessly
prediction about his prognosis caused him to feel hopeless. His symptomatic improvement soon after initiating therapy indicated just how off-base his fortune telling had been.
a fool of myself.” Because of these negative predictions (the fortune teller error), you avoid your friend and feel
occurs when you look at your own errors, fears, or imperfections and exaggerate
your feelings reflect your thoughts and beliefs. If they are distorted—as is quite often the case—your emotions will have no validity.
Emotional reasoning plays a role in nearly all your depressions.
Your self cannot be equated with any one thing you do.
Would you think of yourself exclusively as an “eater” just because you eat, or a “breather” just because you breathe?
You have confused influence with control over others.
Jerky behavior exists, but jerks do not.
‘improvement’ was a fluke. I was fooling myself when I thought
these abnormal emotions feel just as valid and realistic as the genuine feelings created by undistorted thoughts, so you automatically attribute truth to them. This is why depression is such a powerful form of mental black magic.
on and on, and you are eventually trapped. The mental prison is an illusion,
it seems real because it feels real.
Your thoughts create your emotions; therefore, your emotions cannot prove that your thoughts are accurate.
your feelings and expressing them more openly represent emotional maturity. The implication is that your feelings represent a higher reality, a personal integrity,
steps in detail. The modifications in illogical thinking patterns will have a profound effect on your moods and increase your capacity for productive living. Now, let’s
