Because some wounds are deeper than they look.
Not all the wounds are physical. Not all pain can heal by medicines. Sometimes it takes more than that. Sometimes, you just need to talk to someone.
A lot of people face problems in their lives that don’t have anything to do with their physical health. These are mental problems that may occur due to psychological imbalances that may arise due to stress at work, family feuds, financial capacity, etc. Some can be due to personal abuses such as drug abuse, not happy with their job or many other such reasons that society may look down upon.
The longer the victims of such pain hold their sorrows with themselves the more it takes a toll on them. Worst cases result in running away from their homes and suicide attempts. There is no real cure for such instances. The best thing to do is talk to someone but normally they do not. They try to keep it all to themselves. Therefore, if at all the family and friends of such people recognize such symptoms of anxiety and depression, it’s best that they approach them and try to talk to them in a very friendly and supportive manner.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is an interactive therapy that can help you address your problems or issues by changing your thought process or behavior. A typical cognitive behavioral therapy definition would be a kind of psychotherapy through which pessimistic approaches towards self and the world are confronted in order to change such behavior patterns or treat mood disorders such as depression.
We often encounter cognitive behavioral therapy for anxiety and depression, however, this therapy is highly recommended for curing other mental and physical health problems as well. If you would like to explore the potential uses of cognitive behavioral therapy yourself.
These patients normally suffer from depression and anxiety. Helping such people by talking to them, helping them manage their problems by changing the way they think and behave is called as Cognitive
Behavior Therapy.
It is mostly used for patients with depression and anxiety problems, but over the years, use of CBT has proved that it can help with patients suffering from physical and other forms of mental illness as well.
Unlike medication or other forms of treatment, cognitive behavioral therapy is not about curing the illness. It focuses more towards helping the patient gain strength and confidence by themselves. It helps them work towards solving their problem by taking more positive approach towards them.
The basis of cognitive behavioral therapy is that the feeling, thoughts, physical sensation and actions of the patients are all connected to each other. Negative thoughts and feelings will lead to negative physical actions. This can entrap the patient in an ongoing cycle of depression.
Cognitive behavioral therapy helps the patient break this cycle. It helps them break down the entire problem and crack these smaller problems one by one. It helps change these negative patterns to improve the way the patient feels. CBT focuses on solving the problems that the patients are currently facing in their lives.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Techniques
If you wish to enjoy your life to the maximum, it is essential that you counterbalance all the negative thoughts or patterns which could facilitate the penetration of depression or anxiety in your mind. A negative thought process can dampen your spirits, land you in depression and slow down the recovery course. To combat this scenario, you can capitalize cognitive behavioral therapy techniques which are likely to alter your thought process and leave you with a more positive outlook towards life.
The underlying principle of cognitive behavioral therapy is that people having depression don’t lack positive emotions. They just don’t realize the effective ways to deal with positive emotions. Cognitive behavioral therapy overthrows this kind of defensive pessimism which means that this therapy protects our high hopes from getting ruined.
Patients with depression and anxiety are rarely able to help or coach themselves to get out of it. That is why it is best that they seek help in others. Better yet, if you know that someone is suffering through anxiety or depression, it’s best that you approach them and offer to help.
Here are some techniques that might help you
- Help them jot down their problems to analyze what is the root of their condition. Once you have done that, brainstorm ideas and solutions on how to tackle them
- Once you have the root of the problem, think of all the negative thoughts that might dampen your positivity. Now think of positive statements to counter the negative thoughts. Take a walk in their shoes.
- Motivate them to think of happy thoughts most of the time.
- One exercise which you can suggest is, ask them to think about all the good things that happened through the day while lying on the bed, just before they sleep.
Make them understand that where there is good, there is bad. Where there is yin, there is also yang. Help them learn to accept disappointments as a part of normal life.
How Does Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Work?
Cognitive behavioral therapy differs in its approach from multiple other psychotherapies due to the following factors:
- It is more practical or realistic in its approach and can recognize and solve specific problems with ease.
- This therapy has a more organized flow and structure. Reason being that the discussion between you and therapist revolves around the specific problems and the objective goals to be achieved in future. The discussion never gets generic and goes out of real context.
- It is mainly concerned about dealing with your current problems rather than focusing on some past issues. It introspects the way you think and acts accordingly.
- Cognitive behavioral therapy is not authoritative but a collaborative remedy. You are unlikely to receive any dictate from your therapist. Instead your therapist shall work with you to find solutions for your present difficulties.
How to Use Cognitive Behavioral Therapy?
There are pretty simple cognitive behavioral therapy steps that could lead you to the right path and help you build a positive outlook towards life.
- Identify the problem and brainstorm solutions.
- Articulate positive statements as reminders to counteract negative thoughts.
- Explore new opportunities and ways to generate positive ideas.
- Try and visualize the best parts of your daily routine.
- Accept disappointment as a part of life.
Advantages of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
With cognitive behavioral therapy, you will begin to stop and ask yourself questions about the action that you are going to take. You will start to analyze whether they are based on real rational thinking or is it an impulsive action due to a sudden spike in your adrenaline.
You have an open mind towards feedback and opinions from others instead of just brain washing yourself to give into your impulsive actions.
Benefits of CBT
CBT is all about training your brain to work the way you want it. You will be able to teach your brain how to learn and see things around the world in a new way.
The biggest benefit of CBT may be the fact that it will help you slow down your thinking. It will help to make a second thought before you take any impulsive decisions. It will make you think if the action you are about to take is based on any rational belief or not. It will enhance your clear and rational thinking ability along with a lot more other benefits.
- Your outcomes are better. Now that you are thinking more rationally and more clearly, your actions and the words you speak are more concise.
- You will finally learn to take a deep breath, relax and calm down. You will begin to not respond in a hasty manner like you used to in the past. You will learn to handle situations in a more relaxed and calm manner.
- You start to think differently about yourself. Once you see this calm and composed side of yourself, your self-confidence will boost automatically.
- Throughout this process, you will train your brain to stop thinking about negative unwanted thoughts. You will start to channel your brain towards positive thinking.
You will be in complete control. You will not allow any automatic negative thoughts to overwhelm your thought process.