How is cognitive therapy different from simply telling people to cheer up?
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It’s ok to be sad, stressed, anxious, etc etc. But sometimes people end up in a situation where they’re not facing anything that would make them sad, stressed, anxious, etc until there’s a trigger of some sort that sets them into a spiral of negative thoughts that leads them to something unrelated to present events, and then this past event dominates their mood in the present, and then once stuck in this spiral of sad, stressed, anxious, etc thoughts they’re stuck there being utterly miserable about things that aren’t currently happening to a level that’s detrimental to their current life.
Eg: You got dumped yesterday. You’re sad. Good. You probably should be. Being sad about this helps you process it. If you cry that’s probably good, crying releases chemicals in your brain that help your brain process it. This is all fine. Being sad is doing something for you. A year on and you’re out living your life and you see something that brings out a memory that sends you on a downward spiral and takes you away from the live you’re living? Not good. Being sad here isn’t helpful to you, it’s not even applicable to what’s going on, you’re just experiencing it because of an association and it’s fucking up your life in a way you do not need and do not want.
It’s like your brain has gotten itself addicted to the neurotransmitters associated with these various emotional responses and when it sees the opportunity to get at some of them it’ll take it and direct you towards emotions and behaviors that aren’t useful, aren’t wanted, and aren’t relevant to what’s actually going on around you.
The idea of CBT is that a person trains themselves to recognize the triggers and prompts at the start of this spiral and to then re-associate them to divert your thoughts away from the associated memories and back into the present.
Very similar behaviors and strategies are used for addiction, along a very similar philosophy. If someone is battling drug addiction (including alcohol and cigarettes) many strategies involve identifying circumstances and feelings that cause them to relapse and develop strategies to control or re-associate those memories, circumstances and behaviors.
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