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Re: Williams: Guest expert on depression and anxiety

Posted by psycjw on April 11, 2005, at 13:57:45

In reply to Re: Williams: Guest expert on depression and anxiety, posted by Dena on April 11, 2005, at 9:14:11

hi
thanks for the post
i should say at the start that the book i wrote with colleagues was aimed at bringing together some of the insights from an effective form of psychotherapy - cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) and using this with a Christian perspective. having said that the issues are i suspect likely to be relevent far more boradly than just among Christians

The book has three main themes:
1). that in many churches there seems to be a double standard - that there is an emphasis on forgiveness/acceptance but also a usually unspoken set of rules of how we should/must/ought to interact. this can make it feel difficult for people to say that they have struggled/felt down/dismal or distressed. this is in many ways bizarre because looking through the bible very many people of faith had significant struggles/challenges not least Jesus. the title "i'm not supposed to feel like this" is meant to illustrate the situation many christians find themselves in when feeling anxious or depressed

2). the CBT (Cognitive behavior therapy model http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/info/webguide/cogthe.htm) was developed by an american psychiatrist professor aaron beck. it emphasises that when someone is depressed or anxious they tend to both alter how they habitually see things (by becoming quite negative/anxious/catastrophic in their thinking, and often by becoming very preoccupied by what others might think of them - for example mind-reading that others don't like them or find them boring, and finding it difficult to see a positive future. because what people think/believe can affect how they feel such thoughts worsen mood/make the person feel worse. these beliefs often revolve around negative views of how the person sees/judges themselves, their current situation and their future. from a Christian perspective such thoughts often focus on issues such as sin, guilt, worthlessness and doubt. At the same time a consequence of the low mood and lack of enjoyment is that experiences that might previously have been rich and supportive such as prayer time, reading the bible, going to bible class or church can become difficult to do and lack enjoyment. God and others can seem very distant. part and parcel of low mood is that physically we also feel low with low mood/motivation and often experience a lack of enjoyment in things. the consequence is often that we get trapped one of three possible vicious circles:

a). a vicious circle of reduced activity (driven by depression where we struggle to do things, and slowly cut back on things that usually we might have enjoyed/given a sense of pleasure - such as hobbies/time for us, going to church etc
b). or a vicious circle of avoidance which is driven by anxiety- e.g. we lose confidence and become fearful e.g. of meeting others/going to large places such as shops/churches. one understandable consequence of anxiety is that we all tend to avoid those people, places or situations that seem anxiety-provoking. for someone who is a believer this may well include the very act of going to church - where when you are feeling low there are many challenges -e .g. what to say to others if you do go and feel down. its often the case then that we can avoid going, or avoid other things that seem difficult. the danger is that a downward spiral of avoidance saps confidence and leads to increasing isolation and further restriction in what we feel capable of doing

c). i'll mention the vicious circles of helpful and unhelpful behaviour at a later stage if anyone is interested!

3). the main thrust of the book brings the cbt and a christian faith togetehr to look at some faith based (prayer, use of the bible/church others at church/our relationship with God and the promises of the bible) and also pragmatic cbt approaches to treatment (ie challenging extreme and unhelpful thoughts, learning ways of practical problem solving, building confidence in a planned step by step way, and also breaking the various vicious circles by reintroducing some things that give us a sense of pleasure /achievment, planning achievable goals (e.g. in bible reading/prayer/church going) and by tackling avoidance

the whole things is structured in a way to ask readers to pray for each other as they read through the book and we have tried to create a community type feel. this is being built on in the reprint of the book (current) where we have created a website to accompany those using the book

although aimed at Christians with mental health difficulties there is also a section for church workers/leaders that asks them to think honestly about how much mental health issues are approached positively (rather than hidden) in the church and how people are actively supported. this includes asking them to consider their own beliefs about faith/mental illness etc.

hope this gives some pointers to the focus of the book

thanks for the questions

chris w


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poster:psycjw thread:482701
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/faith/20050312/msgs/482862.html