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Re: Feeling Good book and Dr. Burns....quack? » URCONFUSED

Posted by MattDDS on September 24, 2002, at 14:06:52

In reply to Feeling Good book and Dr. Burns....quack?, posted by URCONFUSED on September 21, 2002, at 16:54:36

Dear URCONFUSED,

Wow, you seem pretty upset about Burns' ideas about depression! What did you find "touchy-feely", as you put it, about his ideas? Why would it be so awful if it were touchy feely? Why did reading it mean you were "breaking down"? I have to admit, I felt somewhat put down by your comments, as you sounded somewhat condescending, in my opinion. You made it sound as if people who can be helped by CBT have depression that is somehow less painful or severe than yours. To me this minimizes other people's suffering.

I also was severely depressed as you are, with all the melancholic features (as well as pseudoneurological symptoms). CBT helped me pull out of a major episode. CBT also has lower relapse rates than antidepressant therapy, as has been consistently shown in studies.

Actually, CBT is not quackery at all. CBT is a very well researched treatment modality for depression. If you do some research, you will find new studies that show it is equally effective for all types of depression, including severe depression.

I believe you are creating "straw-men" with your arguments. Burns does not state that depression is "not a biological illness". He does, however, say that there is not a whole lot of evidence to support the "serotonin deficiency" hypothesis. I agree with this, as there is scant evidence to support this. He does say that depression is more likely a "software" problem rather than a "hardware" problem, to borrow the computer analogy. Some studies have shown that similar biochemical changes take place on PET scans when people were treated with either antidepressants or CBT.

Also, did you actually do any of the exercises? Simply reading the book is not supposed to help depression.

I really do wish you the best of luck with getting good treatment! I hope you aren't offended by anything I have said, as that was not my intention. Whatever treatment works for you, I hope you continue with it, even if we disagree on the style.

Matt


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