Q. I suffer from the disease depression and I think your claim that an attitude adjustment can cure this disease is ridiculous!A. Without question, day 86, “The Cure for Depression?” is the most controversial. Disagreement of the article usually comes from those who suffer or have suffered from depression and have been told by doctors that they require drugs, or have felt instant relief from the disease with the use of drugs. If you are one of these people, please read on.
The article is based on what is currently believed to be the most effective form of treatment for the disease today, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). Perhaps the reason some people get upset by this advice, is that I tend to over simplify a serious disease. For this reason, I apologize. The articles in Year To Success are all direct and to the point. I do not mean to come off as unsympathetic or callous toward those with the disease. The point of the article is to share my belief that we can control this disease and it does not have to control us.
It is commonly accepted that the majority of headaches are caused by external events in our lives, such as stress. This stress is actually the way we interpret situations in our lives, or our attitude toward the situation. We can take aspirin for these headaches and treat the symptom, but as long as we fail to manage the cause of the headache, the stress, we will continue to suffer from headaches. The majority of depression cases, although much more serious than the common headache, are also a result of our perceptions of external events—the death of the loved one, divorce, loss of a job, etc. Our emotions and feelings change our chemistry and cause this disease. I firmly believe, until we can control our emotions and take control of our lives again, any other form of treatment such as drugs, will only be a lifelong method of treating the symptoms.
My article, “The Cure for Depression?”, is not meant to deter anyone from seeking medical attention if they believe they suffer the from the disease. Nor can the advice given do any harm to those who practice it. If you suffer from depression and follow the advice given in article, you will at the very least, improve your condition.
For more studies and information on how attitude adjustment can be the most effective form of treating depression, see:
http://info.med.yale.edu/psych/clinics/cbt.html
http://www.depression.com/psychotherapy.html
http://www.apa.org/pubinfo/depression.html
http://www.psychologyinfo.com/depression/treatment.htm
http://www.mentalhealth.com/rx/p23-md01.html
