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Comment by milesf | Hacker News Reader

Having wrestled with severe depression for many years, I've learned a few things.

1) There is hope! Don't give up.

2) Many people will not understand. That's okay.

3) Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) works. It's hard work, but it's easier than having depression and anxiety. It's really about renewing your mind. Best book on the subject is an old one: http://www.amazon.com/Feeling-Good-New-Mood-Therapy/dp/03808...

4) You have to find help from others. You will likely run into quacks, and well-meaning but unhelpful advisers. Don't give up.

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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. 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/Tayl...

Out of curiosity, who did you find that was able to help you?

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?

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...

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.

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

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