Cognitive Therapy of Depression

Panic and anxiety attacks affect around 5% of the population at some point in their life – usually young people up to the age of 35. Standard medical treatment includes a variety of medication to help ease the affects of the attacks and help gain control at an emotional level.
However if you are not into medication or natural remedies to treat panic attacks, then you may want to try the Three Minute Therapy: a cognitive approach to dealing with panic attacks.
This may be the most logical method of overcoming panic attacks compared to seeing a psychologist or physician. This therapy assists the mental processes that a person goes through when experiencing a panic attack. There are two stages to this: first, identifying the “must do” activities that are driving the panic attack, and secondly disputing these “must do” activities until you overcome the pressure.
Anxiety prone people are more prone to dwell and magnify things that they “must do”. For instance, a mother of small children might think that she “must know” exactly why she feels panicky. She tells herself that she “must” never lose control. She “must” not do something to look stupid. She tells herself that she “must” have a guarantee that she’s not going to make herself panic.
These “must do” activities become an unrealistic obsession, and this develops into feelings of fright, panic, becoming hysterical and ultimately depression. People with these feelings of panic might also want to avoid uncomfortable situations so as to avoid further loss of control.
Using Three Minute Therapy, the panic attack sufferer needs to identify the “must do” activities in their life. Though it is “nice” to avoid discomfort or unwanted situations, it is not entirely a “must have” situation. Being uncomfortable is a perfectly normal human feeling, every once in a while. So you will need to realise that this is part of everyday existence and get on with life.
The second step in Three Minute Therapy is to convince yourself that these “must do” activities are not really that important after all. This will be a real mental battle for some people, as it goes directly against the grain of their thinking. As a sufferer you will need to be persistent and confront these thoughts when they arrive and dispute these “must do” activities until you feel it is natural to let go with the situation.
One method of overcoming panic attacks is to practise doing things that you would otherwise be afraid of doing. This stretches your boundaries and you will be able to demonstrate that discomfort isn’t life threatening, and will tend to diminish in its ability to cause panic the more you face it.
By using Three Minute Therapy you may be able to overcome panic and anxiety attacks without the use of drugs or medication.

It is not uncommon for a family to have a history of depression. There are many cases where an individual who is suffering from depression does not appear to have an actual reason for suffering the depression. This is where this person’s family history can help them out. There are some people who appear to be genetically depressed, meaning that their family history shows that previous generations appear to have suffered the same problems. Genetic depression is still far from being fully understood. Studies are still being done in order to understand how genetic depression is passed down and how it can be treated in people before it becomes a real problem.

Having a family history of depression does not necessarily mean that the person will suffer depression, though if a person does worry that they might have depression it might not hurt to consult a therapist or counselor about it. It is possible for a person to be a little anxious over the idea that they might slump into a depression that can ruin their lives as it possibly did for their parent and/or grandparent. The therapist or counselor will help the patient see that worry about such a thing will only bring about needless anxiety that will only put the person through unnecessary stress. This stress can build and can quite possibly eventually lead to an onset of depression. The person who worries can also consult an online therapist or an online counselor and ask the professional questions regarding what is worrying them. The online therapist or counselor can then calm the patient’s fears about them possibly having depression. Suggestions and/or advice might be given that can aid the person in trying to avoid falling into a state of depression, how to calm down and how to deal with the stresses in their lives before the stresses get to much.

Anyone who has a family that has a history of depression does not necessarily mean that the individual will ultimately suffer depression. It does, however, show that the person might have an increased risk of developing depression at some time in their life. With the knowledge about their family history, they can start finding ways to avoid depression early in their life. A therapist or a counselor can help the person learn how to deal with the stresses of everyday life, their anxiety and any depression they might be experiencing already. Doing this can give the person a better chance of warding off serious or deep depression that they might develop later in life if they didn’t take measures to prevent it. Expecting it and preparing for it can actually help the person focus on taking control of their life and putting more effort into making the life they want. Being more optimistic and happy can go a long way to helping the person avoid falling into depression. Early help from a therapist or counselor, whether it is online therapy or therapy in person, can also help a person prepare for their life and keep out the stresses and/or anxieties that can push them into depression.

Figures released by one of the UK’s largest counselling providers have revealed an increased demand for couple counselling as the credit crunch bites. While the general concensus is that financial worries and employment uncertainties are to blame, the long term wider implications of this data has yet to be seen. The findings reveal that a large proportion of the group’s UK centres have seen an increased demand for its services since the recession took hold. The most significant growth is in the South-East and Midlands, suggesting that these are the areas where couples are most acutely feeling the effects of the recession. These statistics are supported by further government statistics, which recently disclosed that the demand for couselling in London and its surrounding areas has risen by 12.5 per cent. The reason for this increase in couples seeking counselling is quite clear – the financial stress is making a significant impact on the home of many couples, and as a result relationship problems are coming to a head. What is less apparent at this stage is whether the increase in couples seeking counselling will have a knock on effect on divorce statistics. One interpretation of the data is to view the growth in couples seeking counselling as the precursor for a growth in divorce. Indeed, counselling for many couples may be a last ditch attempt before the divorce solicitors are called in. If this assumption proves right, rising divorce figures could soon add to the social woes of the current economic reccession. Conversely, the increased use of counselling services may salvage many marriages which would have been promptly shelved in better economic climes. Rising unemployment, combined with a depressed housing market, will make the cost of divorce not only unattractive, but impossible for the many couples who find their hands tied by the current financial crisis. The latest figures to be released from such studies support this theory by suggesting that couples are increasingly looking to work through their problems instead of compounding their financial worries with a costly divorce. Of course, the full implication of these figures will not be conclusively known for some time. The recession will need to ride its course before counselling and divorce figures can be analysed within this context with any clarity. The statistics for couples undergoing counselling and those for couples seeking divorce may not prove mutually exclusive. Whether the current spate of counselling is an alternative to immediately calling upon the divorce solicitors should become clearer over time.

When you feel bad, your thinking becomes negative. This is the ABC of emotion. ‘A’ stands for the Actual event, ‘B’ for your Beliefs about it and ‘C’ for the Consequences you experience because of their beliefs. If you can somehow prevent erroneous negative beliefs from forming around an actual event, you have gone a long way toward protecting yourself form the unnecessary negative emotions that are sure to follow from such distorted thinking. I recommend seven tips to protect yourself from negative, distorted thinking. These tips work for many unpleasant experiences, but let’s use as an example a particularly unpleasant experiences, but let’s use as an example a particularly unpleasant divorce. In the throes of a nasty divorce you might be tempted to believe many of the charges your ex levels against you: You’re selfish, uncaring and vindictive, and not only that, you are lousy in bed. If you buy into this picture of yourself, the consequences might well be low self-esteem and guilt, not to mention severe depression. Cognitive therapy tries to change the Bs – your beliefs – so you do not experience the Cs – negative consequences. Here’s how to cope.

1. Define Your Terms

You had no ideas your ex was having affairs. You were blind. Define blind. The dictionary says “completely without sight.” That wasn’t you. You saw that your ex was withdrawn from you and was spending an enormous amount of time “working late.” You weren’t blind, just too trusting of someone you had every reason to believe was trustworthy.

2. Solve The Problem

You blew up when you came home early and found your ex, who moved out months ago, unexpectedly in your house. Since that ugly scene, you have been thinking that your “terrible temper” has turned you into a “monster.” Possibly, but the problem in this case is not your temper. The real problem is that your ex still has keys to your house. Maybe it is time to change the locks.

3. Take A Survey

Your ex insists that your refusal to take the kids for an extra day after a holiday weekend proves you are vindictive. You maintain that you are open to a rescheduling time with the children, but not when the real reason is to allow your ex to jet off to a luxurious resort with a new lover. You feel justified, but after a screaming argument on the phone, your confidence is shaken. Perhaps you are a vindictive creep. Now’s the time to call a few friends and solicit their views. Chances are they will say you are justified.

4. Talk To Yourself As You Would To A Best Friend

Suppose a friend were getting divorced and felt like a selfish, uncaring, vindictive failure. What would you say? Probably something like: You are not a failure simply because your relationship ended. Many marriages end in divorce, and many winning teams lose a game now and then. It is rough to endure a divorce, and break-ups never bring out the best in people, but I have known you for years, and you are a warm, kind, caring person.

5. Examine The Evidence

Take in the big picture. Write it down if you have to. Your ex says you are lousy in bed, but are you really? Until you learned of your ex’s unfaithfulness, the two of you had a great sexual relationship. Of course, after your heart was broken, you did not have any energy for sex, especially with the person who rejected you. That is not being lousy in bed. That is a normal reaction to betrayal.

6. Look For Partial Successes

Instead of thinking that your marriage was a complete failure, consider the many ways that it was successful: You took turns putting each other through school, and now you both have much more fulfilling careers than you had when you met. You have two great kids, and the problems that led to your breakup have given you valuable new insights into the kind of person you will look for in your next relationship.

7. Experiment

See how this negative thinking about yourself in this one area stacks up against your behaviour in other areas. Your ex called you selfish for wanting to keep the house, but are you really? If you were truly selfish, you wouldn’t give to charity, wouldn’t help friends in need and wouldn’t share credit for your group’s accomplishments at work. Test your reactions the next time a charitable solicitation arrives or a friend calls with a problem or your group’s efforts are recognized. If you write a check, offer to lend a hand or praise a co-worker, you are not entirely selfish. You may not be as magnanimous as you like to be, but you are not the ogre your ex says you are.