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I've read Feeling Good, and found many of its basic premises to be flawed. Conscious thoughts aren't, as Burns claims, always a leading cause of bad feelings. B

I've read Feeling Good, and found many of its basic premises to be flawed. Conscious thoughts aren't, as Burns claims, always a leading cause of bad feelings. Biological, hereditary, and environmental factors can have a large effect on mood. Burns believes negative thinking patterns are 'distorted', and we can ameliorate depression by 'correcting' them. Several studies have shown that the depressed people are actually more, not less, likely to appraise situations accurately. http://nuweb9.neu.edu/personalitylab/wp-content/uploads/TaylorBrown.pdf http://nuweb9.neu.edu/personalitylab/wp-content/uploads/Tayl... Out of curiosity, who did you find that was able to help you?

DanBC 12y ago
CBT is used to help cancer patients deal with pain. It's not about "correcting" thoughts. Have you said something similar on HN before, under a different account?
- brookside 12y ago
  I'm sure CBT has been used with cancer patients, but pain management is not the heart of what CBT is about: http://www.beckinstitute.org/cognitive-behavioral-therapy/#q-n-a-71 http://www.beckinstitute.org/cognitive-behavioral-therapy/#q... CBT is however about fixing negative thought patterns. Start of chapter 3 of Feeling Good (I just pulled open the pdf) Burns says 'Illogical pessimistic attitudes play the central role in the development and continuation of all your symptoms' I don't think I myself have posted about this before, and just did a search. Hacker news does seem to be often dismissive of the psych field though, as there is not a lot of good science that would appease a critical thinker.
  - DanBC 12y ago
    You said that emotions can be caused by a wide range of stuff and suggested that CBT might be less effective in those situations. But it doesn't matter what causes the emotions - CBT helps people deal with negative emotion no matter how they're caused. Pain management in cancer patients is a good example where emotions are caused by something external but where CBT is still effective. You might want to have a look through some better books or websites to get an idea of what modern CBT involves. https://moodgym.anu.edu.au/welcome https://moodgym.anu.edu.au/welcome

DanBC 12y ago

CBT is used to help cancer patients deal with pain. It's not about "correcting" thoughts. Have you said something similar on HN before, under a different account?

brookside 12y ago
I'm sure CBT has been used with cancer patients, but pain management is not the heart of what CBT is about: http://www.beckinstitute.org/cognitive-behavioral-therapy/#q-n-a-71 http://www.beckinstitute.org/cognitive-behavioral-therapy/#q... CBT is however about fixing negative thought patterns. Start of chapter 3 of Feeling Good (I just pulled open the pdf) Burns says 'Illogical pessimistic attitudes play the central role in the development and continuation of all your symptoms' I don't think I myself have posted about this before, and just did a search. Hacker news does seem to be often dismissive of the psych field though, as there is not a lot of good science that would appease a critical thinker.
- DanBC 12y ago
  You said that emotions can be caused by a wide range of stuff and suggested that CBT might be less effective in those situations. But it doesn't matter what causes the emotions - CBT helps people deal with negative emotion no matter how they're caused. Pain management in cancer patients is a good example where emotions are caused by something external but where CBT is still effective. You might want to have a look through some better books or websites to get an idea of what modern CBT involves. https://moodgym.anu.edu.au/welcome https://moodgym.anu.edu.au/welcome