EWS December 15, 2010
And what is CBT?
It is a form of talking therapy that encourages depressed patients to exchange their self-destructive thoughts for healthier ways of believing and acting.
It is the modern equivalent of telling people (gently) to shape up, smarten up and take responsibility for their own lives.
Except that you could not possibly convey that time-honored message with such stark clarity these days. Apparently, we are all too fragile to hear such sage advice: the shock might send us rushing to the medicine cabinet.
That is a terrible shame. All the antidepressant drugs and therapy-speak in the world cannot take away the simple, honest fact that life for all of us can be dismally hard at times.
For most of us, though, the healthiest option is to face our problems vigorously, rather than disappear down a black hole of antidepressant dependency.
That is an especially important message to spread during this economic downturn. Times are getting harder.
But instead of grasping for tablets, we would be far better off being encouraged to rely on our own resources — positivity and self-reliance.
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