CBT

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There are various ways to think about and use CBT.
To use CBT to make improvements in your life, you don't need to buy into it fully.
You can instead use some of its step back and think more rationally approaches to get out of overly negative thought patterns, regulate emotions, and reduce anxiety.
I never bought into it fully, and I told therapists that it seemed pollyanna-like, but I think that some approaches did help me become more socially outgoing, more positive overall, more actively going after goals, and these changes showed up in behaviors too, so I was able to accomplish more tangibly after learning some CBT approaches.
Overall, I would say it had positive influence on my life.

I tried CBT a couple of years ago, and I found it didn't work. My depression problems were too irrational and complex for CBT. I felt that CBT was more for people with issues like facing a stressful week at work, or falling out with a friend, you know, those things that happen but life can go on as normal after it has happened. But my depression was ongoing, and affected me in everything I did. It caused low self-esteem to the point of suicidal thoughts, and I felt so lonely and tried different social groups to try and make friends but it wasn't as easy as that. That sort of problem does not go away with CBT.

The only thing that has been most effective on my depression and anger is Sertraline. Although I still get depressed and angry, it's still more manageable than it was before I went on Sertraline. So, because my ''madness'' (I did feel like I was going mad with depression before) is more under control, I CAN gain some good out of CBT. I've kept the books, and sometimes I read them every now and then if something's bothering me, and I jot stuff down to help me see a way to get through an issue, and there is normally a solution. Thanks to Sertraline.

But before the antidepressants, I felt like I was going mad. No CBT could help me change my thoughts. I hated myself, I hated my life, and I began to hate most of my family for being ''luckier'' than me.

I found CBT a waste of time, because it assumes that thinking anything "negative" is a cognitive distortion. For example, if one does not feel liked, CBT will tell you to come up with other explanations (like the person had a bad day, is busy, or sick). A CBT-ist will not say this, but I believe coming up with the alternate (less "upsetting") explanation is a backhanded way of diluting a worry and sidestepping the actual truth.

I am not easily fooled by this kind of mental gymnastics, nor does it help. "It IS what it IS." Having Aspergers can make a person feel disliked. CBT will ask you to examine the "evidence" that the person really does not like you. And being extremely upset by probabilities will only cause the CBT proponent to continually ask you whether you know for sure that things are as bad as you think they are.

I have been through many rounds of CBT and did not find it helpful. I really have a hard time fooling myself into thinking things are somehow better, different or murkier than they really are. There is INTUITION and GUT FEELING which CBT seems to ignore. Past experience also.... Sometimes experiences beat us down. I find CBT to be an overly detached, intellectual way of looking at situations that affect us emotionally. A little dose of empathy and validation go a long way, but unfortunately it is very hard to find in therapy these days.

Mindfulness is a big thing in the mental health circles these days. Personally, I have not found it helpful, even though apparently it has helped others. The idea is staying in the present and being mindful of the pain, discomfort or whatever sensations envelope us. The problem is, daily life demands that we plan for the future or do other things to avert disaster. I find it impossible to reduce my consciousness to the level of, say, a bug, and not think about the past or future. I cannot seem to shut my mind off

In addition, mindfulness doesn't seem to help my depression (have tried focusing on 'the breath') -- it all falls apart when I'm doing something else, and the unconscious seems to churn out some very unpleasant emotions. In short, mindfulness does not resolve the heaviness or fatigue I feel.

Oliver James article. The choice to invest so many millions (gosh) of public funds (ie tax revenue) in CBT is as much (and perhaps more) of a political decision than a "helping" one.

"Help", unfortunately, is sometimes the smiley mask that power and control wears, especially when championed by politicians!

http://www.psychminded.co.uk/cbt-does-n ... chologist/

Yes, sorry for being unclear, by "this guy" I meant Dr. Rowe the other quoted critic of CBT.

"His attack in a newspaper column follows that of clinical psychologist Dorothy Rowe. Writing for psychminded.co.uk Dr Rowe said CBT was a “Labour quick fix”."

It would appear that CBT is easily abused by governments of all stripes whose interest is in providing less care and saving money rather than actually helping people. That is disgusting.

Regarding the claims of evidence based made by NICE in support of its recommendation of CBT for psychosis etc, a critic of the NICE claim disputes its validity on this important ground:

"Since 2008, at least 14 better quality RCTs have been published and only one reports a significant effect of CBT on psychosis symptoms (and that was a non-blind study). In a remarkable critique (Perera & Taylor 2014) of the recent NICE (CG178) 2014 update (sic), the Chair of the SIGN committee (the Scottish version of NICE) Professor Mark Taylor says:

"In our view NICE CG178 promotes some psychosocial interventions, especially CBT, beyond the evidence. NICE CG178 also makes strong nonevidence-based recommendations…it is unfortunate that the guideline appears at times to reflect the interests of its authors rather than impartial up-to-date evidence"

When ‘service-users’ across all Trusts in England and Wales themselves were asked, the majority said they had either been offered or had declined CBT for psychosis, leaving a minority (46%) who “had not received CBT and had not indicated that they did not want to receive it”) – which, of course, is not the same as this minority saying that they do want CBT.


- See more at: http://www.thementalelf.net/treatment-a ... ro88u.dpuf

On the face of it, CBT for psychosis makes no sense! Psychosis is characterized by massive distortions of thought and perception--how is someone in that state supposed to analyze their own cognitive processes and identify schemas, etc?

It seems completely daft to suggest this approach to psychosis or schizophrenia--or that it can "cure" depression.

The techniques can help someone to live better with their depression and anxiety. That's about it. These other claims seem like fiction. I wonder how much any of this is "evidence based" and how much is self-serving distortion by people who stand to make money from offering it?

It certainly makes me wonder those things too.

So, my thoughts and feelings are wrong? That's what I heard all the time growing up and I don't think it made things better. I'd be very allergic of anyone telling me that, now.

Also... it reminds me of the autistic kid who was given ABA (also behaviorist) who made very little progress until they figured out that he was deaf (or blind?) and not autistic. I guess beliefs don't have as much to do with deafness as they'd like. How do tell the difference between a false thought and a reality that you don't experience? People seem generally to be very bad at determining that difference in others.

I don't have any experience with CBT. Not sure if I'd even heard of it before I came to this forum.

It sounds like the same "positive thinking" horses**t that is promoted in new age religion...just repackaged with slightly different terminology for a more clinical setting.

I thought CBT stood for Cold Beer Therapy. That's what they use around here, anyway.

My experience with CBT:

Me: "I'm pretty sure that my poor social skills are a major factor in the trouble I have in finding full-time work."

Therapist: "It's all in your head. Just think that you have good social skills and you will!"

Me: "b***h please, I'm diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder."

Therapist: "It's all in your head. Just think that you have good social skills and you will!"