Posted by mattDDS on November 22, 2002, at 23:45:42
In reply to Caffeine/CBT/Supplements/Self-help/What WORKS????, posted by wcfrench on November 21, 2002, at 0:32:50
Charlie,
Burns doesn’t “bash” meds. Nor does he ignore that depression and anxiety involve physiological changes in the brain. He actually started his career doing full-time research on serotonin metabolism, for which he won a prestigious award.
I think he has voiced his concern that antidepressants do not seem very effective, or at least not as effective as most people believe. But doesn’t this mirror the experience of many on this site? Regardless, he said in one of his books that he treated about half of his patients with some sort of medication, usually antidepressants. He is also a big proponent of using mood-stabilizers for mania and neuroleptics for schizophrenia. All his treatment is very much evidence-based, and scientific.
CBT has helped me tremendously for **severe** anxiety and depression. You can look up some of my old posts to see my story if you’re interested. I sometimes wonder why so many people overlook this or fail to integrate it into their treatment plan. Especially when it is basically free (when done as self-help) and has been shown to be as effective as meds with better long-term outcome. Not to mention, there are presumably no side-effects and you “can raise the dose” as much as you want!
Good luck!
Matt
“”Feeling Good”” -- helpful for depression / bipolar
“”The Feeling Good Handbook”” -- covers phobias, anxiety, panic, depression, SP
“”Intimate connections”” -- helpful for social phobia
poster:mattDDS
thread:128568
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20021122/msgs/128862.html