| The basic tenet of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, or | | | | later remember. They will tend to notice (or, in CBT |
| CBT, is that what you think affects the way you | | | | parlance, "attend") to objects, people, or events that |
| feel. That is to say, if you think depressive thoughts | | | | "fit-in" or confirm their previously held beliefs. For |
| then you will feel depressed. Conversely, if you | | | | example, a depressed person who thinks that the |
| manage to stop yourself thinking these thoughts, | | | | world is an unpleasant place to live is more likely to |
| then your depression will lift. | | | | remember the sad news stories as compared to a |
| As a Psychiatrist in Edinburgh I use CBT techniques | | | | non-depressed person. A depressed person who |
| extensively. My first step is to look for unhelpful | | | | thinks that they're unlikeable will take extra notice of |
| patterns of thinking with my clients. Depressed | | | | possible sleights from others. CBT theory posits that |
| people often think in particular ways that are very | | | | such mental filtering reinforces a person's depression. |
| different from non-depressed people. These ways of | | | | A closely related thinking error is termed "Disqualifying |
| thinking are called - in CBT language - "thinking errors". | | | | the Positive". As well as focusing on the negative |
| Thinking errors help to cause and then maintain | | | | features of the world (and themselves), depressed |
| depression. | | | | people will often actively ignore (or "disqualify") |
| Numerous different thinking errors have been | | | | evidence to the contrary. A depressed person may |
| identified by CBT therapists over the years, and | | | | well recall the person at the party who ignored them, |
| particular kinds of errors seem to predispose to | | | | but he will forget or downplay the others who |
| particular psychological problems. In my experience as | | | | chatted to him for hours. If a CBT therapist asked |
| a Psychiatrist, the most common errors found in | | | | them about this, he will often say things like "oh, |
| depression are "All-or-Nothing" thinking, "Mental | | | | they just felt sorry for me", thereby turning a |
| Filtering", "Disqualifying the Positive", and | | | | positive interaction into something very different. |
| "Personalising". | | | | "Personalising" is the term given to a type of thinking |
| "All-or-Nothing" thinking (also known in CBT circles as | | | | that places the person at the centre of events. Such |
| "Black-or-White" thinking) emphasises extremes and | | | | a view of the universe places a huge burden on the |
| ignores the fact that most things in life are shades of | | | | persons shoulders - they can feel responsible for all |
| grey rather than absolutes. For example, a person | | | | the bad things that happen. You may be |
| thinking in this way may play one poor game of | | | | "Personalising" when you feel guilty about not being |
| tennis and then decide that he's totally useless and | | | | able to help an unemployed friend keep his house, or |
| give up forever. Or she may miss one yoga class and | | | | when reading about climate change due to our |
| tell herself that as she's fallen behind, there's no point | | | | Western way of living. There are factors beyond |
| in going back. "All-or-Nothing" thinking sets very rigid | | | | your control and for which you should not take |
| rules for a person to live by - rules that, if broken (as | | | | responsibility. If you do, then CBT hypothesises that |
| they almost inevitably are!) can lead to the | | | | you will experience feelings of guilt, shame, and |
| abandonment of enjoyable and worthwhile activities, | | | | ultimately depression. |
| and predispose the person to depression. | | | | The above is a brief review of the common thinking |
| "Mental Filtering" is the term applied to the thinking | | | | errors that I have come across during the course of |
| patterns of people who "see" the world in a | | | | my work as a Psychiatrist in Edinburgh. Identifying |
| depressive way. People with this thinking error are | | | | such errors with the client is a first step on the way |
| biased in what they take notice of, and what they | | | | to identifying other, healthier, ways of thinking. |