Recently, over the past few weeks, I had walked myself into the middle of what I refer to as the ‘swamp of depression’ or ‘depression swamp’. Slowly, steadily, and circumstantially I had unfortunately got myself stuck in a dreary and dark place. Many factors were causing me to feel depressed and overwhelmed, which lead me to engage in what Aaron Beck (the originator of CBT) refers to as ‘dysfunctional thinking’. I was feeling isolated and lonely from writing, overwhelmed by work, and also experiencing disillusionment and disappointment in my personal life. This led to very unhealthy patterns of thinking, which caused me to wish that I was anybody, but me. Finally my body alerted me that I wasn’t okay through heightened feelings of anxiety. For some reason, I am always more in tune to my physical self than my emotional self. This caused me to take a step back and start some self-reflection. I realized that I had been engaging in some unhealthy thoughts and habits for a few weeks now, causing me to feel unwell spiritually, emotionally, physically, and mentally. For example, although I had quit being a regular cigarette smoker for some time, I was smoking regularly and heavily for over a month. I recognized that I wasn’t living life in a way that felt authentic to me. I recognized that I wasn’t thinking in a way that actually reflected my views of reality. I decided that I needed to make changes to get out of the ‘depression swamp’.
I am a visual learner and have used the image of the ‘depression swamp’ with my clients. For me, getting out of the depression swamp takes some work. I imagine it as figuratively being stuck and sinking, while literally feeling like you have to physically pick up each leg with your arms to move towards the land of non-depression. This laborious work usually occurs at time when most people experiencing depression just want to sleep and hide from life. I, instead chose to make changes. I quit smoking for the millionth time, made sure I got some exercise even with the rain, went to class, and upon recognition, started challenging my dysfunctional thought processes. Although very rare in occurrence, I had thought back to the few times in my life when I had felt this depressed. I recognized a pattern of dysfunctional thinking that occurs when I am depressed, but does not occur at other times. This dysfunctional thought process also does not resonate with me or how I really view the world. I also recognized that this form of thinking is a byproduct of feeling depressed. So, I used the training I received in CBT to combat my feelings of depression. I returned to the cognitive thought triangle and started changing my thoughts about my past, present, and future life circumstances. In regard to my past, I told myself that all kids makes mistakes and reminded myself for the millionth time that I need to stop beating myself up for things I did before the age of 25. I also started thinking that I am really very hard on myself and that none of my mistakes ever hurt another living being, only myself. Again, I remembered we all make mistakes and to stop beating myself up. To challenge my thoughts in regard to the present, I reminded myself that excitement, followed by disappointment, is a normal part of life. I also recognized that I have a tendency to build people up and place expectations on them that are not grounded in reality. I promised me, never again to build anyone up to be higher than what they are; instead I will allow the actions of people to determine the esteem I give them before making any judgement calls. I also recognized that getting a PhD is a challenge and that I have placed a lot of pressure on myself. Due to many writing demands and because both of my pets experience separation anxiety, I have been isolated to my home office. This has enhanced my sense of feeling lonely, which has contributed to my depression. I decided that my animals are going to have to get over their separation anxiety and that I am going to have to spend more time writing in public places. I also started thinking differently about my future. My new thoughts centered on the multitude of possibilities awaiting me upon completion of my PhD. I started thinking about the research I will conduct, the new people I will meet, financial stability, travelling, etc. I also started thinking that in this new place, with this new knowledge of myself, I might fall in love with someone who stimulates me intellectually and loves me unconditionally. I recognized that my present is professionally motivated as I am focused solely on my dissertation and work, but the future is where I can grow personally. I started feeling better upon using CBT and making all of these changes. This got me to think that CBT could be an effective social work intervention, not simply on the micro level as my recent experience has shown, but also in mezzo and macro social work practices. Really, it appears that in mezzo and macro social work, we have developed dysfunctional thought processes that influence how we feel and act in our profession. An application of CBT to these practices, might help us as a profession working with other professionals to institute much-needed change within our communities. For example, on a mezzo-level- courts, service providers, and child protective services view domestic violence as an individual’s problematic behavior. Survivors of abuse are often blamed and forced to bear the burden of engaging in services, while no services are offered to the abuser. I believe if we view domestic violence differently, more as a familial problem, then we might be able to help these families guide the much-needed change in their homes. Also, if we re-frame how we view child abuse, not as a parental flaw, but as a consequence of societally unjust circumstances then our ability to help those families is enhanced. Our public schools are another avenue where we can use Aaron Beck’s CBT to change how we think, feel, and act as social workers. Segregation of public schools has been maintained despite Brown v. Board of Education and the majority of minority schools lack the resources granted to privileged white schools. Some youth within these systems are viewed and treated as ineducable and problematic, leading to higher rates of disciplinary action and involvement in the juvenile justice system. What if we changed how we thought, and viewed every child walking in the door as someone able to attend institutes of higher education? What if we viewed these children as educable despite poverty, familial underemployment, and familial under-education? What if we created school cultures that promoted college readiness despite race, class, or gender? I really think that CBT could also be useful on a macro level to combat some of the dysfunctional thoughts related to race, class, and gender. A plethora of political elitists continue to maintain the old status quo by insinuating that white and male is better. What if political elitists changed their dysfunctional thought processes? Just think of what the world, and America specifically, might look like. The New Deal, the Civil Rights Movement, and the Feminist Movements of the past showed us that collectively we can challenge and change dysfunctional thinking on the macro level. Many social workers today are confronted by the impact of a macro-system that works to disadvantage women and people of color, on all levels of social work. I think it is time that we as social workers, act as society’s therapist, and start forcefully applying CBT on a macro-level. We must ignite society to unite against the powers that be. First, we have to change the dysfunctional thoughts that divide us, such as white is better. White is not better…it is simply different. We must create functional thoughts for society: 1)diversity is gorgeous, 2) all members of society deserve equal shares to happiness, love, and opportunity, 3) taking advantage of the poor, or anyone for that matter, is wrong, 4) everyone deserves healthcare, 5) discrimination in all its forms is wrong, 6) income inequality is wrong, 7) everyone can be educated, etc. Social workers, we are advocates of social change. I argue that we should also be therapists to a society much in need of cognitive behavioral therapy.
3 Comments
12/4/2023 01:41:07 pm
https://turkeymedicals.com
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2/16/2024 09:20:52 am
CBT for depression offers a beacon of hope for those navigating through dark times. Its evidence-based approach empowers individuals to break free from the grips of despair. Truly, CBT serves as a guiding light on the journey towards mental wellness."
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3/15/2024 11:52:15 pm
At The Well Woman, one of our main treatment approaches when working with individuals is Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT). CBT was developed by psychiatrist Aaron Beck, MD in the early 1960’s. Cognitive Behavior Therapy is popular among mental health professionals, as it is evidence-based. Currently, more than 500 outcome studies have demonstrated the efficacy of CBT for a wide range of psychiatric disorders, psychological problems, and medical problems with psychological components (Butler, Chapman, Forman, Beck, 2006; Chambless; Ollendeck, 2001). In a nutshell, the CBT model proposes that dysfunctional thinking, which influences our mood and behavior, is common to all psychological disturbances.
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