Health Awareness blog

Cognitive Therapy is a type of therapy that is used by psychologist to help patients with some psychological problems like depression, neurosis, chronic fatigue syndrome and psychosis. It is based on the fact that we respond to cognitive representations of events and not the raw data. The fundamental idea is that mood and thoughts can form a vicious cycle. Cognitive therapy will tackles this vicious cycle by tackling the thoughts. Simple isn’t it! Okay, it is not that simple…

Well, I give you one example of a depression case:-

Amy is a 17 years old lady. She is the only child in the family and her parents put a very high hope on her. However, being under so much pressure, she has failed her examination. Her parents got very disappointed. She feels very low and lost of interest to continue her daily life. She has poor appetite and lost some weight. Her low mood leads to gloomy thoughts and memories and the gloomy thoughts make her feel even more depressed and this lower her mood further. It makes her feel even more gloomy. This is exactly the vicious cycle that I am talking about. The cognitive therapy is to tackle the gloomy thoughts. In this case her poor performance in the examination. The therapist will make her sees that this is not the end of the word, she can sit for the examination again with more preparation and less pressure. She can discuss with her parents to release some of the pressure. She also can pray to god, most probably she will succeed.

This is the process of cognitive therapy:

• Clarify exactly what the thought is ( and do not let it just be vague negative belief)
• Look for evidence for and against the proposition in the thought
• Look for other perspectives
• Come to a conclusion

During cognitive therapy, the therapist will help the patient to find other explanations of his or her phobic disorder by challenging him, for example by examining what “I am a failure” means. The therapist will point to the patients that failing to achieve some goals doesn’t mean that he/she is a total failure.

Hmm, now you know the secret of cognitive therapy. Perhaps you can try this at home. Just make sure you are under the expert supervision.

Reference:

1. Oxford handbook of clinical specialties. 5th edition. 2001.

Want to quit your job because work environment doesn’t suit you???
Well, do not rush in making your decision. You might be wrong.

A healthy environment at work is needed by every one of us. This is important for us to work effectively. A bad environment at work will cause stress.

I am sure a lot of people realize that a little stress is needed for us to continue working. It is called a positive stress or in a less technical word, it is called “pressure”. We need a little stress to keep us working and increase our productivity. However, just imagine you have so much pressure at work. You might get the stress from the work itself, from your colleagues and less but not least, your BOSS. What will happen to you? Well, most probably you already know that this will give you a negative impact and cause a lot of stress. This will get even more complicated if you have problem at home.

WHAT MIGHT CAUSE STRESS AT WORK???

• Working environment
• Too much pressure
• Changes of rules at work
• Critical and dangerous job
• Your boss doesn’t appreciate you
• Frustration
• Problems with peers
• Just get promoted (increase workload)
• Losing job (this is even worse… you finally have nothing to do)
HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT YOU ARE STRESS?

Surprisingly, not everybody knows that he/she is having stress. Some people are alert enough to notice that they are stress and ready to find their way out. However, some people are too much occupied with their work that they do not realize that they are actually need help. This is very dangerous because they might end up having depression or even more serious problem like bipolar affective disorder. Just check yourself up if you have any of these symptoms:

• • You might frequently feel bored, but do not know why
  • Losing or getting too much appetite
  • Smoking
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Nervous
  • Too much worry
  • Tired
  • Easily feel irritated and agitated
  • Sleep disturbance
  • Become aggressive
  • Losing concentration

WHAT CAN YOU DO TO HANDLE THIS KIND OF PROBLEMS?

• Take one thing at a time
• Do not forget to breath
• Smile will be a great help
• Being rational and realistic. Think positive about yourself and accept that you might have a weak spot that need to be polished. Do your best and feel good about that.
• Plan your work and work your plan. Arrange your time smartly. Do the first thing first. Do not delay your work and preferably do not bring your work home, unless you are working at home.
• Improve yourself in managing problems. Look at your problem with rational thinking. Solve the problem systematically.
• Be positive about any changes at work. It might happen for a good reason.
• Effective communication at work. Be assertive and not aggressive. Respect your colleagues.
• Improve social support at your workplace. Be friends with your peers at work. Share your problem with them. Listen to each other. Spend some time to help your friend. Show your concern to other people apart of yourself.
• Keep a healthy lifestyle. Learn how to stay calm. Get enough sleep. Do exercise. Get yourself a hobby, (or even a hubby.) Stay sober. Stay away from drug, alcohol and cigarettes. Believe your god and be good to people.

The job might be too good for you to quit. However the price might be too higher for you to pay. I always tell my friends, all you need is a piece of paper. Write the good and bad points on it. Then throw the paper and follow your heart. Your instinct might be right after all..:)