CBT For DEPRESSION

(Cognitive Behavior Therapy)

ARON BECK was first practitioner of this therapy. Cognitive behavior therapy is psychological intervention widely use in mental health treatment. It is a talk therapy between client and a mental health therapist. Cognitive behavioral therapy is psychotherapy that elevates the negative things from mind and promote positive things. It changes or alter the thoughts, feelings, attitudes, behaviors and perceptions from negative to positive. Cognitive behavioral therapy use for the treatment of different mental illnesses like Anxiety, Depression, OCD, Bipolar, addictions, eating disorders etc.

Here we will discuss How can we treat depression with CBT?

CBT alters the cognitive distortions of mind that cause the condition of stress or depression. These are the following cognitive distortion that are changes from negativity of mind to positivity of mind.

• ·         All-or-nothing thinking.
• ·         Disqualifying the positive.
• ·         Automatic negative reactions.
• ·         Overgeneralization.
• ·         Personalization.
• ·         Mental filter.

Therapist can use the journal to help replace negative thought patterns or perceptions with more constructive ones. This can be done through a series of well-practiced techniques, such as:

1.   Learning to control and modify distorted thoughts and reactions.
2. Learning to accurately and comprehensively assess external situations and reactions or emotional behavior.
3. Practicing self-talk that is accurate and balanced.
4. Using self-evaluation to reflect and respond appropriately.

What are the 3 pillars of CBT? There are three pillars of CBT That are the basics of cognitive behavior therapy that are important concepts of the treatment of mentally ill persons. CBT Treatment involves developing more balanced and constructive ways to respond to stressors. Ideally these new responses will help minimize or eliminate the troubling behavior or disorder. It uses the principles of CBT to help you track and manage Depression symptoms. These pillars are:

• 1.    Identification
• 2.    Recognition
• 3.    Management

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is one of the most evidence-based psychological interventions for the treatment of several psychiatric disorders such as depression, anxiety disorders, somatoform disorder, and substance use disorder. The uses are recently extended to psychotic disorders, behavioral medicine, marital discord, stressful life situations, and many other clinical conditions.

A sufficient number of researches have been conducted and shown the efficacy of CBT in depressive disorders. A meta-analysis of 115 studies has shown that CBT is an effective treatment strategy for depression and combined treatment with pharmacotherapy is significantly more effective than pharmacotherapy alone. Evidence also suggests that relapse rate of patient treated with CBT is lower in comparison to the patients treated with pharmacotherapy alone.

Treatment guidelines for the depression suggest that psychological interventions are effective and acceptable strategy for treatment. The psychological interventions are most commonly used for mild-to-moderate depressive episodes. As per the prevailing situations of India with regards to significant lesser availability of trained therapist in most of the places and patients preferences, the pharmacological interventions are offered as the first-line treatment modalities for treatment of depression.

If you have Depression, cognitive restructuring, successive approximation, journaling, behavioral activation, and mindful meditation can all effectively decrease symptoms. Each of these techniques may be applied regularly during your once-a-week session. You may also be required to practice at least one of these outside of the session through journaling or symptom monitoring. This encourages you to challenge your thoughts, break down tasks when feeling overwhelmed, manage and pull away from negativity and rumination, and increase enjoyable or necessary activities throughout the week.