THINKER'S ALMANAC - September 19

What common insight about thinking did both Hamlet and the Buddha share?

Subject: Cognitive Behavior Therapy - Distorted Thinking

Event:  Birthday of David D. Burns, 1942

We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts we make the world. -Buddha

There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so. -Hamlet

The black hole of self-doubt, anxiety, and depression is a place that most people experience at one time or another.  Dr. David D. Burns, who was born on this day in 1942, pursued a career as a psychiatrist, seeking to find answers about how to help people climb out of this black hole and live productive, positive lives.

Image by Markus Winkler from Pixabay

Burns began by looking for solutions related to chemical imbalances in the brain.  However, his attempts to help his patients with drug treatments were not working.  This caused him to begin a quest to find a psychotherapeutic solution.  When he heard about a new approach called Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), he was skeptical.  However, after attending workshops by CBT’s creator Aaron T. Beck, Burns began to apply some of CBT’s approaches with his patients.  Burns was so impressed by the effectiveness of CBT that he wrote the best-seller Feeling Good.

In Feeling Good, Burns presents the basic premises of CBT.  The first premise is that our thinking is what creates our moods.  As the ancient stoic philosopher Epictetus said, “People are not disturbed by things, but by the view they take of them.”  Secondly, our thoughts frequently become distorted, and it is these distorted thoughts rather than reality that generate negative emotions and moods.  Thirdly, and most importantly, CBT posits that individuals can be trained to recognize the patterns of their distorted thoughts and alter those thoughts in ways that make them feel better.

In Feeling Good, Burns identifies a number of self-defeating beliefs that result in depression.  By classifying each of these negative thoughts and feelings, it’s easier to identify them and to counter them with reason and evidence. An example of a cognitive distortion is “catastrophizing,” where a person expects the worst to happen despite the fact that he or she has no concrete evidence that it will.  Another distortion is “emotional reasoning,” where a person relies on their feelings to guide the interpretation of reality.  For example, just because a person feels stupid doesn’t mean they are stupid.

Recall, Retrieve, Recite, Ruminate, Reflect, Reason:  What are the three premises of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and how does it help people to challenge their own cognitive distortions?

Challenge - To CBT or Not to CBT?:  Shakespeare said, “There is nothing either good nor bad but thinking makes it so.”  The problem, however, is that too often we focus on the bad.  The goal of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is to equip people to challenge their distorted perceptions and to question their feelings by using reason and evidence.  Do a bit of research on CBT.  Based on what you find, does it look like an effective approach to helping people with depression?

Also on This Day:

September 19, 1783:  The first hot air balloon was sent aloft in Annonay, France.  The balloon was engineered by two brothers, Joseph-Michael and Jacques-Etienne Montgolfier.  This first flight, however, was not a manned flight.  Because of the unknown effects of high altitude on humans, the brothers decided to experiment with animals.  The first passengers in the basket suspended below the balloon, therefore, were a sheep, a duck, and a rooster.  The 8-minute flight traveled about two miles and was witnessed by a crowd of 130,000, which included King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette (4).  Today is the perfect day to hold a balloon debate, where at the end of each round, the audience votes on one or more speakers to eliminate.  In this debate, the audience is asked to imagine that the speakers are traveling in a hot air balloon.  The balloon is sinking, so to save everyone, one or more of the speakers must be “thrown out.”

September 19, 1772:  Benjamin Franklin wrote a letter to a friend praising the rational and deliberate method of making a decision by listing out pros and cons, a process he called “moral algebra.” 

Sources:

1-Strauss, Robert L. “Mind Over Misery.”  Stanford Magazine Sept./Oct. 2013.

2-Franklin, Benjamin.  Letter to Joseph Priestly, 19 Sept. 1772.  Founders.archives.gov

3-http://m.space.com/16595-montgolfiers-first-balloon-flight.html