Discuss the Effectiveness of Cbt as a Treatment for Depression

Also, I like it because many studies have shown that CBT treatment is very effective for many disorders such as depression, eating disorders, substance abuse, as well as anxiety disorders (Sheldon 2011). The treatment is very clear because it is based on the patient’s experience, it encourages practice and compliance, and the patients have a sense of control. Not only are the sessions collaborative, it empowers the patient by giving him an active role in the process. The treatment is relatively short too compared to other psychotherapy programs (Goldberg 2012). CBT is goal oriented too. Patients working with their therapists are asked to define goals for each session as well as long -term goals. Anyone with a mild or moderate depression can benefit from CBT.

CBT also fails to recognise the impact of situations or experiences that are out of the control of the individual and places total responsibility on the individual. Further, research has shown that although CBT is superior in treating anxiety and depression it does so only by reducing/eliminating symptoms and does little to increase well-being, however with a renewed emphasis incorporating symptom reduction and increased quality of life this appears to be changing (Oei & McAlinden,

Research has shown that cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) can be as successful as medicine in treating many types of depression and other mental health disorders it can be completed in a relatively short time compared with other talking therapies and because it is highly structured, CBT can be provided in a number of different formats such as through computer programs, groups and self-help books. Some research suggests that CBT may be better than antidepressants at preventing the return of depression. It is thought to be one of the most effective treatments for anxiety and depression.

This essay will review the literature on the effectiveness of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). Cognitive Behavioural Therapy was developed by Aaron Beck in the early 1960s and originally it was defined as cognitive therapy (CT). According to Beck (1967, 1976) cognitive therapy is a time restricted but structured approach, which is used effectively in treatment of many different mental illnesses. Despite the fact that the literature covers this therapy in a variety of contexts, this paper will mainly focus on applying CBT to depression. Depression can be described as a type of afflicted psychological well being, where the individual lacks confidence in their own worth (DH, 2004). Overall, this paper will review literature which is of

CBT is a psychotherapeutic treatment that can be used to aid the patient. CBT is grounded on the idea that behavioral and cognitive approaches can help the patient cope with SAD better (Hope, Burns, Hayes, Herbert, Warner, 2007).

CBT is defined as a form of mental health based counseling, focusing on errors of cognition and perception. It usually involves a limited number of individual outpatient sessions (Park et al., 2013). This form of therapy, “helps you become aware of inaccurate or negative thinking, so you can view challenging situations more clearly and respond to them in a more effective way,” (“Cognitive behavioral therapy”, 2014, para. 1).

Treatments using anti-depressants is well documented, but there are very few studies documenting only the use of psychotherapy. However, in one study done using the Cognitive–behavioral analysis system of psychotherapy (CBASP) as a maintenance treatment, the overall findings show that psychotherapy in itself can be successful. “ There were 82 patients who were treated with CBASP long term. Patients were chosen at random to reduce their treatment to monthly or to an observational status. The patients, only treated monthly with CBASP, showed a smaller amount of reoccurring symptoms then the patients in the observational status. These findings support the use of only CBASP as a maintenance treatment for depression.” (Klein, 2004)

A probable reason why CBT works with depressed patients is that depression interacts with both cognitive and motivational processes. This is well evidenced in experimental analogue research with healthy and depressed individuals. Individuals with depression show deficits on a range of cognitive tests (Brown, Scott, Bench, 1994) with the pattern of dysfunction having many of the characteristics associated with fronto-subcortical impairment. Reischies and Neu (2000) found that depressed individuals displayed mild cognitive impairments in comparison with matched controls, particularly in the areas of "adverbial" memory, psychomotor speed and verbal fluency. Further in these patients there appears to be considerable variation in the recovery of cognitive function with remission of the depressive episode.

CBT was developed to be a short-term therapy, but in more complex cases, the treatment tends to be longer (Sussman, 2006).

CBT is an integrated approach using various combinations of cognitive and behavioral modification interventions and techniques (Myers, 2005). The aim is to change maladaptive patterns of thinking and behaving that impact clients in the present (Weiten et al., 2009). From a cognitive behavioral perspective Jane would be diagnosed as having faulty thinking and dysfunctional behavioral issues suffering from depression, and anxiety in the form of Agoraphobia (Weiten et al., 2009).

Major depressive disorder affects nearly 15 million of American adults in a given year. (Kessler, Chiu, Demler & Walters, 2005). With the impact it has on the society as well as the well-being of the individual, it must be in the interest of the healthcare to be able to provide patients with the most effective treatment method. Extensive research has been conducted on the efficacy of antidepressant medication and cognitive therapy, the two main treatment methods used for depression today. The discussion has, however, been characterized by conflicting claims, resulting in a debate over what should be used rather than us having definite conclusion of how patients are best helped.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) was created by Aaron Beck, a professor in psychiatry in the 1960’s (Beck, 2011). Initially, Beck sought out to prove the psychoanalytic idea that depression stemmed from anger towards oneself (Beck, 2011). However, during his research he found that misleading thoughts and beliefs were the reasoning behind depression. Beck theorized that one’s current feelings about something are derived from an initial encounter that gave meaning to that specific event. So, negative feelings about a particular occurrence can be a result of misinformation (Beck & Greenberg, 1984).

CBT is a structured psychological treatment which identifies that cognition, emotion and behaviour all interact together. Therefore, it can be said that our thoughts determine our feelings and our response. A negative impact of the actions taken by someone when that person suffers from psychological distress caused by how skewed they interpret situations. CBT involves working with a therapist to distinguish thought and behavioural patterns that are either making a client more likely to become depressed, or stopping a client from getting better when experiencing depression. The purpose of CBT is to increase the client’s awareness when negative interpretations are made and when behavioural patterns reinforce distorted thinking. Cognitive therapy helps people to develop alternative ways of thinking and behaving which aim to reduce their psychological

CBT has shown to be as useful as antidepressant medication for individuals with depression and is superior in preventing relapse. Clients receiving CBT for all depression disorders are encouraged to schedule activities in order to increase the amount of pleasure they experience. In addition, depressed patients learn how to restructure negative thought patterns in order to interpret their environment in a less biased way. CBT for Bipolar Disorder and the high-risk depressed client is used as an adjunct to medication treatment and focuses on psychoeducation about the disorder and understanding cues and triggers for relapse. The client will have more reason to gain more confidence in them. Studies indicate