A Brief Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Guide for Anxiety and Other Mental Disorder
Our thoughts and behaviors are the large determinant of our overall health. So many people are suffering from various emotional disturbances and mental disorder like anxiety, panic attacks, depression etc. In order to change their condition, they must address the internal mechanism of their thoughts and behaviors.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) adopts two way approaches as it deals with 1) thoughts and beliefs that cause negative emotions and 2) behaviors that come out as a result of those beliefs. Thus, CBT allows the subject to break the inextricable chain of thoughts and behaviors that causes the disorder.
The Cognitive Aspect of therapy
Cognition is defined as “The mental faculties of perception, thought, reason, and memory, as distinct from emotion and volition.” Simplifying, our thoughts determines our mental health. But Cognitive Therapy is not about just plain positive thinking. It is about determining the core beliefs of a person that disables him/her to function efficiently in their day-to-day life. Human mind is complex and it takes time to undo an impact causes by non-stop negative thought patterns. Cognitive therapy aims at tracing roots of these negative beliefs and thought patterns.
Core beliefs can be broadly divided into two categories viz. helplessness and un-lovability. For example, when an automatic thought arises in person’s mind “I don’t get noticed by the person I am attracted to” has its root in unlovable core beliefs. The thought “I can’t learn at this age” stems from a helpless belief structure.
By understanding and replacing the negative thoughts and beliefs, we can get rid of our overall negative perceptions and behaviors.
The Behavioral Aspect of therapy
The action one takes is the result of thoughts and emotions. If a person has unlovable belief structure, it is likely that the action he takes like avoid being in the relationship, is rooted in his core belief of un-lovability. People indulge into such destructive behaviors in attempt to further validate their core beliefs.
To change these behaviors, one must first become aware of the automatic thoughts that cause such actions. Actively investigating cognitive and behavioral aspects of the thought processes – with the help of a therapist – one can dramatically resolve the emotional issues and mental disorders. Though the treatment may take time to fully recover a person, CBT is always preferred over prescribed medicine to achieve natural anxiety relief. Because of this wholesome approach, CBT is considered the best natural cures for anxiety, depression and other mental disorder.