Wednesday, October 18, 2023

An Effective CBT Technique For Depression Relief

Licensable Stock Image: Shadow of Human Hand on Wall - Reaching Out for Help

A stock photo showing a shadow of a human hand reaching up for help. Click image to license.
© Evan's Studio, 2016

Depression is a serious and complex mental health disorder. There are many different types of depression including:

  • Major Depression 
  • Persistent Depressive Disorder (PDD)
  • Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) 
  • Bipolar Disorder
  • Prenatal and Postpartum Depression

To read a full description of each one of these disorders click here.

This blog post will be about a specific technique that I have developed, which I find useful in controlling the symptoms of depression. The technique is based on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), which has been shown to be effective in treating depression in many studies. CBT helps you refocus your thoughts, which hopefully leads to behavioral and mood changes. The premise is that you can change your behaviors, emotions, and mood if you are able to change the ways that you think. In other words, our emotions, behaviors and thoughts are interconnected and we can train ourselves to learn more helpful thought patterns.

This specific technique is effective because it forces you to focus your thoughts on what you like to do. Writing down and reviewing these activities reinforces these positive thoughts. Mindfully spending more of your time doing the things on this list will help change your mood.

The Evan's Studio Like List Technique

  1. Make a list of things you like to do i.e., cooking, running, walking the dog, sex, watching movies, listening to music etc. 

  2.  Review and add likes to this list every day.

  3. Spend more of your time doing the things on this list.