I find it one of the most intriguing parts about CBT, because I don't know of any research on one of the fundamental assumptions it has (from my interpretation)

I find it one of the most intriguing parts about CBT, because I don't know of any research on one of the fundamental assumptions it has (from my interpretation), which is: your feeling/emotion is caused in a big part by a thought you have. For me this seems to be at least mostly true, which is why I can use the assumption. It was then that I realized that I'm a believer of the appraisal theory [1]. But I still didn't find any convincing paper on it to what extent this is true. The danger this can have is that it may be that some feelings/emotions are not caused by your thoughts, but because of something else, but yet you try to CBT it away. One example is: you simply have a chemical imbalance. The first question I asked in this case is: do I exercise? If not, then let's hit up that dopamine button first in a healthy way. If I do exercise, the next question is: am I eating healthy? I also put social contact in as a 3rd possible factor. Whenever I went to meditation retreats (they double as a silent retreat), I noticed that my thoughts went in loops and other people break you out of your thought loops. It was then how I viscerally experienced how one might become crazy when they are left alone. I also found ways to battle it (e.g. try to do math in your head and come to newfound knowledge). My full (mental) checklist is: 1. Am I exercising? If not then there might be a dopamine issue. 2. Am I eating/drinking in a healthy way? If not then your body might not be working properly. 3. Did I sleep in a healthy way? If not then the same as point 2. 4. Am I experiencing constant stress for more than 2 weeks? If so, then cortisol might be screwing up my HPA axis [2]. I should check for burnout/depression symptoms to verify. 5. Have I been a hermit for more than 2 weeks? If so, have I been focused or mind wandering? If I have been mind wandering mostly, then it's time to visit some friends. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appraisal_theory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appraisal_theory [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypothalamic%E2%80%93pituitary%E2%80%93adrenal_axis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypothalamic%E2%80%93pituitary...