Treating depression and anxiety

[Neil1973]

Hi everyone.

My name is Neil Cook and I’m an Honours year student at Liverpool Hope University studying Applied Social Science and Psychology. I’m currently conducting research into how effective or useful therapy (in particular CBT) and medication is for treating symptoms of distress (depression and anxiety). I’d be interested in hearing feedback of any experiences that you may have had with therapists and doctors and the treatment they provided (positive and negative).

To get the ball rolling here are some questions that indicate what kind of things I’m looking at:-

Do you think therapy or medication helped you at all? What do you think are the limits of therapy based on your own experiences?

Do you believe that it is correct to label depression and anxiety as illnesses which need curing?

Do you sometimes feel as though you are being judged when you see a therapist?

Do you think that therapy or lifestyle/relationship/personal situation changes are required for someone suffering distress to improve?

Why do you think people often feel ashamed or guilty about having depression or anxiety?

Do the positive effects of therapy last outside of the consulting room or once the course of treatment was over?

Who should decide what the outcome of therapy should be? (You or the therapist?)

How important are relationships in both maintaining and relieving your symptoms of distress? (This includes the relationship with your therapist)

How much does will-power and motivation play a part in recovery? Does therapy help or hinder this?

Why do you think therapy doesn’t work for some people?

I’d be interested in any comments you have regarding the above questions (which are just guidelines) or any other comments regarding your experiences of therapy and medication.

Many thanks for reading this and I look forward to any replies. If you have any questions or comments that you do not want to post publicly please feel free to PM me.

[Neil1973]

Hi Kev,

Thanks for the answers. Can I ask what form of talking therapy you have received? i.e. whether it was based on CBT or another form of talking therapy? It's interesting that you mention how those providing assistance wanted to focus on your childhood because the philosophy underpinning CBT approaches places great emphasis on the 'here and now' while supposedly placing much less emphasis on childhood issues so that is why I was wondering what type of therapy you have undergone.

When you say that the answer to depression and anxiety involves change, what kind of changes do you think is needed and why would they help? What do you think about the widespread notion in psychiatry that persistent distress is the product of personal 'mistakes' in someone's thinking that require correction?

You mention that therapy can work if someone is motivated (has the will power) and will accept the help offered. In your experience, what is it that therapy offers which can help someone suffering from distress? Why do you think someone suffering refuses to accept help or can't summon the will power needed for therapy to work?

Thanks again for your answers, I'm very grateful and they provided an interesting perspective on treatment. I hope you don't mind that I've responded with a few further questions but I'd be interested in exploring some of the issues you raised in further detail. If you don't want to answer them all (or any) or discuss anything further that's perfectly fine though and I appreciate you taking the time to answer my original post :)