depression treatment

Just as with any additional disorder, depression MUST be treated along with the eating disorder. Often depression treatment includes Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) which identifies the ten forms of distorted thinking found in depression (see below). Besides CBT, there are many anti-depressants that are used. These include the famous Prozac, Zoloft, and Paxil. It is true that generally after a person is taken away cold turkey from their anti-depressant that they relapse back into old thinking patterns and the depression re-surfaces, however, when treated along with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, most are able to be "weened" off of the anti-depressants without many problems. The key is to learn better rationalization techniques along with using the drug as just a little "booster," so that in the end you have learned how to rationalize and use logic for your problems well enough that you no longer need anti-depressants.

the.nine.forms.of.distorted.thinking

1. All-or-Nothing Thinking :
   This is the black or white thinking pattern. If the person is not perfect they are nothing and a total failure. If the victim gets an A- on a test it's the end of the world
2. Labeling :
   The person makes a mistake and instead of thinking that hey they made a mistake no big deal they label themselves names such as a failure or pathetic. Another example of this is having a parent yell at you for forgetting to do a chore. Instead of thinking that you'll remember next time you may label yourself totally worthless and because of that your parents don't love you now.
3. Over-generalization :
   This is when a person makes a slight blunder and believes they will never get it right. ("I relapsed again; I wont ever be able to recover.")
4. Mental Filtering :
   ED victims tend to do this quite a lot. Say a friend commented on a piece of art work but then added that one of the colors was a little off. Instead of remembering that 99% of the art work is great looking the person dwells on the negative part of what the friend said and filters out any positive remarks. Many times the ED victim will say that they are good for nothing and that no one gives them any positive remarks but they do not realize that any positive remarks that they have been given they have immediately dismissed.
5. Discounting the Positive :
   This thinking is when you do something well such as cooking a good meal and then when given positive remarks on it you immediately think things like "Well, anyone could have done it," or, "It wasn't that great..."
6. Jumping to Conclusions :
   You assume the worst based on no evidence. You decide that another person is reacting negatively to you. ("I know she didn't really mean it when she said I wasn't fat; she's lying just to be nice.")
7. Magnification:
   This is the exaggeration of importance of problems and minor annoyances. An example of this would be an eating disorder victim not exercising for a full hour and thinking that what he did before was worth nothing.
8. Emotional Reasoning :
   Ever confuse your emotions for reality? This is when the thoughts of 'I feel fat so therefore I am fat' come up. The self-demanding tip-off's include 'must', 'ought to', and 'have to'.
9. Personalizing the Blame :
   These thoughts are another very common trait among eating disorder victims. The person believes that things beyond his or her control are the victim's fault. ("I ate yesterday and that's why the plane crashed," or, "If I had gotten an A+ instead of an A then my mom wouldn't have a migraine today.")

Personally, I have found that a major key in helping rid depression is realizing that we all have limits and faults, but that that is OK, and that there are better ways of dealing with things than self-destruction. One particular quote has been especially helpful, and it goes a lil' something like this: Most depression or anxiety-producing events are not inherently awful. What makes them feel distressing is the way we react to them.

next: The Truth on Laxatives, etc.