Oliver James Rubbishes CBT and Happiness

Submitted by tonyplant on October 24, 2006 - 16:37.

I like the work of Oliver James: he is an interesting speaker and an engaging writer. I've been aware for some time that he is not in favour of Layard's enthusiasm for cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) and he usually makes his viewpoint in a cogent manner.

Not today. Today, Oliver James has contributed a piece to the Daily Mail: Therapy on the NHS? What a crazy waste of £600 million! He starts off with the headline figure that depression and anxiety cost the £17 billion per year and then moves on to deride Layard's proposed £600 million investment in expanding the provision of CBT on the NHS.

It's an infuriating piece. James makes several sideswipes about the efficacy of CBT.

CBT is a form of mental hygiene. However filthy the kitchen floor of your mind, CBT soon covers it with a thin veneer of positive polish. But shiny surfaces tend not to last.

According to James

The CBT patient is taught a story to tell themselves, a relentlessly positive one. If the therapist is skilled, the patient becomes able to ignore many of their true feelings.

When tested at the end of the treatment, like a well-coached pupil taking an exam, they often regurgitate the positive story.

I thought that one aspect of CBT might be the examination of whether negative thoughts and feelings are grounded in unrealistic beliefs. Is it possible that these negative thoughts and feelings are false rather than true?

read more | 3 comments | Layard | happiness | depression | CBT | anxiety

Videos About Anxiety and Panic Attacks

Submitted by tonyplant on October 21, 2006 - 16:14.

Eric Wilinski has put together an intriguing selection of videos and talks on the topics of anxiety and panic disorder. I've met a few carers who have developed anxiety, depression or panic attacks: some of them link this to their experiences battling with the various 'services' that don't seem to provide much in the way of service to carers or those for whom they care.

1 attachment | add new comment | panic disorder | panic attacks | anxiety

Stress Therapy Offer To Ill Jobless: Really?

Submitted by tonyplant on July 6, 2006 - 07:29.

According to The Guardian, the government is about to offer stress therapy to people who have had to quit work because of stress or depression.

So, would this be a separate plan to the Layard proposal for enhanced access to cognitive-behavioural therapy? Or is this a separate proposal? If so, is this a well-researched and validated programme? Or is it a nice, worthy sounding initiative that is not expected to go anywhere?

Why focus on stress therapy? Has anyone looked at the possibility of focusing on people's character strengths and virtues and using those to help someone to help themselves? Has there been any investigation of resilience work that would not only relieve stress in the short-term but sustain it? Is accepting the health benefits of positive emotion still too much of a leap of faith?

Copyright 2006, Tony Plant Happystance Project

add new comment | unhappiness | stress | resilience | happiness | depression | anxiety

Dr Serani's 6 Myths About Stress

Submitted by tonyplant on April 25, 2006 - 13:33.

 

Psychologist Dr Deborah Serani dispels six myths about stress in the hope of promoting greater understanding. It sounds a lot like being aware of the allostatic load of your life. I've borrowed this following explanation of allostasis from Dr. Salt's summary of a classic paper:

[stress has] many mechanisms, but among the most prominent are the manifestations of physiological stress responses as a result of living and working conditions, inter-personal conflict, as well as the sense of control of one’s environment and optimism/pessimism toward the future. "Allostatic load" refers to the cost of adaptation to a stressful environment, which elicits repeated and sometimes prolonged adaptive responses ("allostasis") that preserve homeostasis in the short run but can cause wear- and-tear on the body and brain. Functional symptoms and syndromes, decreased cognitive function during aging, abdominal obesity, increased risk for hypertension and cardiovascular disease, insulin-dependent diabetes and decreased immune responses are all manifestations of allostatic load.

We have powerful ways of modulating the harmful output of the stress response systems that include belief systems and behaviors. An important quote attributed to Dr. McEwen is, "We must also remember that the biggest problems for the human race in the future are those associated with our own behavior and misbehavior and the impact of the social and physical environment on our bodies and brains."

1 attachment | read more | 1 comment | unhappiness | stress | resilience | happiness | depression | anxiety | allostatic load | allostasis

Stress, Anxiety and Depression: diverse findings from mice and stressed people

Submitted by tonyplant on April 19, 2006 - 14:18.

There is a lot of disagreement about anxiety and depression among professionals. Some argue that they are discrete categories. Others say that they tend to co-exist. There is disagreement about whether the anxiety that often accompanies chronic depression is a cause or effect of the illness.

Research in mice suggests that chronic stress as a precursor of anxiety may be a trigger for -- rather than a symptom of -- depression. People with depression typically have measurably higher levels of cortisol (stress-fighting, anti-inflammatory hormone), but researchers disagree whether this is a cause or effect of depression. The findings of the mouse research indicate that chronic exposure to cortisol may contribute to the development of depression.

The mice were acutely (24 hours) and chronically (17 to 18 days) dosed with their stress hormone. They mice were then given a common behavioural test for anxiety in animals: researchers measured how much time it took to leave a small dark enclosure for a brightly lit, open field. The research reports that the mice exposed to chronically raised levels of stress hormones were more hesitant less to explore their new environment and more fearful.

The research also indicates that the mice with chronic exposure responded with dulled reactions to being startled: an indication that their nervous system might be overwhelmed.

1 attachment | read more | add new comment | unhappiness | stress | resilience | happiness | depression | anxiety