A personal experience of CBT

I was diagnosed as having depression as a secondary and associated condition with another anxiety disorder. I attended a Cognitive Behavioural Therapy group course run by the Prince of Wales Hospital in Sydney. The course ran for 9-10 weeks, and was attended by eight or so people. I found it enormously helpful, encouraging and supportive. Sharing details of your life and feelings with others who have been there too can be incredibly comforting - "My God, I'm not the only person in the world who feels like this". The others understand, you can actually laugh at yourself and your behaviour, and you really all encourage one another.

CBT itself is a remarkable therapy. At first the idea of teaching yourself to THINK differently as a way of overcoming depression sounds... well, silly. But it's not. It really works. Taking it day by day, one tiny step at a time, it can really help. Bit by bit, by practising hard, by writing down each negative thought you have and how to change it, you learn to recognize the negative thoughts associated with depressed feelings, and you can begin to shift them. You also start to practice doing more activities. "I can't face cleaning the house". Okay - so tomorrow, you make yourself feel proud by cleaning one bench top. The next day, another bench top and so on. You plan each day and incorporate it into activities that give you pleasure and those which give you achievement. And you really begin to have a sense of achievement.

But it would be wrong to suggest that this is easy. It is hard, detailed, tiring work - assessing every action - or non-action, assessing each thought as it passes through your head. Writing it all down. Getting depressed when things go wrong and you have setbacks. It is hard. But if you just try - particularly within a group of others who you can see getting better before your eyes - and keep trying, it really does make a difference. It has for me, and all the others in my group.