Depression hurts. When a person feels deep sadness from loss of a job, a loved one, or when stressful situations occur such as divorce, financial burdens, or troubles at home, life takes on a completely new meaning. When a person feels despair, they will often start feeling hopelessness, misery, and helpless.

Depression is a mental state that causes a person to create negative ideas about themselves and others. People, who feel depressed may feel like they have failed everyone, feel as though others are judging them, and they may say, "I am a failure. I am hopeless. I am inadequate. I am helpless."

The truth is there is always hope. For the most part, any common problem can be resolved. Of course, death is a natural occurrence that happens to us all at one point in our life, and every one of us will experience the loss of a loved one at some point in our lifetime. It is a difficult reality to accept; yet we all must face it at some point or another. It will happen and the best way to deal with grief from loss of a loved one is to learn how to accept the loss.

Divorce hurts. People, who spent a good deal of time with someone close to them, may blame themselves when things go wrong. This feeling of blame, guilt, and shame lingers for some time and causes depressive symptoms to emerge.

Depressed souls tend to feel shame, guilt, and blame often. This problem creates a negative illusion, leaving the person to feel that no matter what he or she does or says it is never right. The person starts to feel despair and rejected.

The fear of rejection and fear of failure forms for most people who suffer depression. Failure and the notion of being rejected feels like catastrophe and disaster to those who suffer from depression constantly. The pain escalates, the hurt grows deeper and deeper until one day, and the person decides to get help or end his or her problems.

Depression is not only a mental illness it is a very dangerous place for anyone to live in. Those who suffer from chronic depression may entertain suicide thoughts, and in in many many instances may act on those thoughts. The overwhelming statistics show us that thousands of people every single day choose death as an escape from depression, and thousands others attempt suicide. Based on these facts, we need to learn to take depression serious and help those who are struggling with depression the best we know how.

One of the best solutions is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy . Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is a set of procedures that involves helping a person come back to the here and now, and helping the person find solutions to resolve problems including emotional conflicting problems resulting from death, divorce, finances, and so forth. Bringing the person back to reality can help him or her come to term with painful emotions that keep the person feeling stuck. Feeling depressed is no place to be, but if you go there, there is always hope!

Did you know that chronic inflammation can play a major role in your mental health? If you or a family member is suffering from conditions, such as depression, it could be due to significant inflammation in the body. This is something that can be countered naturally with the help of alternative medicine practitioners.

According to a study published in 2012 in the Neuropsychopharmacology journal, depressed patients have been found with inflamed cytokines and acute-phase proteins. The development of depressive symptoms have also been tied to the administration of inflammatory stimuli. In the research, it shows that interactions can occur between inflammatory cytokines and multiple pathways that directly affect your mental state, including the monoamine metabolism, snaptic plasticity, neuroendocrine function and neurocircuits. These are all known to assist with regulating your mood.

Other contributing factors include your diet, stress levels, leaky gut, and an imbalance of regulatory and pro-inflammatory T cells. You can consult with alternative medicine practitioners to learn more.

How Inflammation Causes Depression

In one model, it’s believed that depression results from inflammation because your body is attempting to protect itself from an inflammatory response. This process uses neurotransmitters and hormones. Various depressive symptoms can ensue, including alterations in perception, metabolic changes, flat mood, avoidance and slowed thinking.

The cytokines found inside of your blood, as well as inflammatory messengers like interleukin-1, CRP, TNF-alpha and interleukin-6 can predict or correlate to depression. For instance, when you have depression or bipolar disorder, your white blood cells promote the secretion of cytokines, while at the same time decreasing cortisol sensitivity (the stress hormone). Cortisol is also responsible for acting as an inflammation buffer.

Both inflammatory agents release info to your nervous system, stimulating your vagus nerve, which links together your brain and gut. When inflammation is present, brain cells known as microglia become activated, which then leads to decreased production of serotonin and melatonin and an increase in NMDA. This is an amino acid that can bring forth anxiety and agitation.

Improve Mood with Anti-Inflammatories

In a study, patients with rheumatoid arthritis were given immune targeted drugs, then brain scans. The results showed their brains’ neuro-chemical circuitry had changed significantly. This opened up pathways that would help ease depression. Evidence also shows those with overactive immune systems don’t respond as well to anti-depressants.

There are various methods alternative medicine practitioners use to help patients battle depression. Some may offer services like chelation and hormone replacement therapy.

Depression is the most common mental health problem in the United states. It affects 17 million each year of all ages, groups, races, and background. Depression is a serious illness and everyone need to have some understanding of it whether you're suffering from depression, or have a friend or loved one suffering from it, or whether you're just hearing of it. Even if you're not suffering from the disease or know someone suffering from it, it's still good to familiarize yourself with it so that you can recognize its symptoms at any point in time, get diagnosed immediately and get the help you or your friend or loved one needs.

The secret to treating and overcoming depression in time lies in the early diagnosis of it. When you can recognize its symptoms in time, and seek treatment you can easily beat it.

What is Depression Really?

Depression shouldn't be mistaken for the usual feeling of bad moods, sadness or feeling down. Such feelings are normal reaction to day to day events, and they are often overcome within a short time.

When someone is depressed or have mood swings consistently for weeks, months, or longer and it limits the person from going about his or her daily activities, then that could be depression.

There are different types of depression, there is major depression, dysthymia, adjustment disorder, seasonal affective disorder and bipolar disorder or manic depression.

Causes of Depression

Causes of depression ranges from genetic causes to significant life events. That is if some members of a person's family has suffered from depression, it increases the person's chances of developing depression. And if a person experience a sudden change of events such as losing a loved one or moving to a new area or the person someone is in a relationship with breaks their heart, can lead a person to become depressive.

Other possible causes could be chronic illness or side effects from some types of medicine or infections.

Diagnosing Depression

For an accurate diagnosis see a mental health professional for a detailed clinical evaluation. To qualify for a diagnosis, you should have been experiencing at least 5 of the following symptoms consistently for a period of at least 2 weeks.

Signs and Symptoms of Depression

Having little interest or pleasure in doing things

Feeling down, depressed or hopeless

Trouble falling or staying asleep, or sleeping too much

Feeling tired or having little energy

Poor appetite or overeating

Feeling bad about yourself – Or that you are a failure or have let yourself or your family down

Trouble concentrating on things

Moving or speaking so slowly that other people could have noticed, or the opposite – Being so fidgety or restless that you have been moving around a lot more than usual

Thoughts that you would be better off dead, or of hurting yourself in some way

Recognizing Depression

If you think you or loved one may be suffering from depression, take the necessary steps to get treatment. Do not overlook it especially when you notice such symptoms in children. Untreated depression can pose a threat to human life.

Treating Depression

If you suspect depression, your first stop should be to see your regular doctor so that physical illness can be ruled out. If your doctor suspects depression, he or she can then refer you to a psychiatrist, psychologist, or licensed clinical social worker who will then give you a proper diagnosis for depression.

Do not put treatment off, early detection and diagnosis are the key to quickly overcoming depression. There is nothing to be afraid of, more than 80% of the people who become depressed are treated successfully.

A psychiatrist or psychologist can perform a complete evaluation and start a treatment plan with you which may include counseling, medicine or both.

Are you suffering from physical symptoms of depression?

Depression, burn out, mental fatigue – whatever you may call it affects your entire body. For some reason, we have separated our minds from our bodies in the last decade of medicine, or perhaps two. We think that if something is wrong in our body, it won't affect our mind. We forget that our neck connects our head to the rest of our body.

So, if you have physical pain, you could be suffering from depression. It's usually a combination of physical pain along with feeling hopeless and helpless, but not always …

"We're becoming more sensitized that major depressive disorder has physical as well as emotional symptoms," says Stephen M. Stahl, MD, Ph.D., associate professor of psychiatry at the University of California San Diego. He believes that the many unrecognized cases of depression – as high as 50% of all cases – may be ones that do not complain of depressed mood.

In a study of over 25,000 patients at 15 primary care centers on five continents, Seattle researchers found that 50% of all depressed patients worldwide report multiple unexplained physical symptoms. (Source: "When Depression Hurts" – Psychology Today Magazine- Hara Estroff Marano – Jul / Aug 2002)

The trouble is, too often your physical pain may be sending you or your doctor on a wild goose hunt looking for a different cause. The true source of the problem and your depression may go untreated as well as unrecognized.

Here are the physical symptoms of depression:

-Back pain

-Neck pain

-Migraines

-Leg pain

-Chest pain

-Stomach problems (digestion) – diarrhea or constipation

-Dizziness or lightheadedness

-Exhaustion – sleeping at night and during the day

-Lack of sleep – waking up early, can't fall asleep at night

-Change in eating – weight loss or weight gain

(Source: National Institute of Mental Health: "Depression")

What to do if you think you suffer from these physical symptoms of depression?

First of all, see your doctor. These symptoms can also mean another illness either besides depression or in addition to your depression. Also, take our depression test.

Then, read our powerful 6 Steps Report which shares with you step by step what to apply to your life based on the research from leading medical journals. Visit our site for more info.

There is hope! You are worth it!

Warmest regards,
Merri Ellen

© Copyright http://www.cure-your-depression.com – All Rights Reserved.

The old question of the chicken and the egg and which came first applies to this conundrum. Recent studies suggest that depression and addiction recurrently go hand in hand.

There is a strong correlation between depression and addiction and the problem is often approached in 2 different ways.

1. Some conventional psychiatric treatment procedures focus on treating depression as the root cause contributing to the drug or alcohol abuse problem,

2. Others consider depression as a symptom typically revealed after a person gets addicted into substance abuse.

As an addict travels along the ever descending road, whilst experiencing their high, they are in a euphoric state of mind in which they simply become numb to any sort of pain sensations, both emotional and physical. In most cases, addicts are in a worsening or poor state of health. Long-time drug and alcohol abusers also suffer from nutritional deficiencies. Therefore addiction is a progressive complication.

Due to prolonged addiction problems, addicts face variety of emotional, social and physiological problems such as job loss, broken relations, and discontinuation in studies, financial bankruptcy, legal problems and many others, which lead to recurrent episodes of depression. So in one way or other, depression and addiction is highly correlated with each other, especially considering the consequences of addiction.

Depression Often Leads To Relapse

Depression is a critical mental health condition that most frequently coexist with substance abuse disorders. If left untreated depression can hinder the addiction recovery process and may lead to relapse. On the other hand, an untreated addiction problem may also develop depression in the patient and consequently lead to relapse. Hence, this vicious cycle of depression and addiction needs to be recognized and requires simultaneous treatment.

The ideal treatment must focus on the deepest root of the addiction and its consequences incorporating a thorough understanding of the relation between addiction, recovery, depression and relapse. The treatment must be based on a clear understanding of the bio-psychosocial model of addiction and depression. The fundamental principle of treatment will only be established by treating depression coexisting with addiction. The recovery plans need to address the administration of signs and symptoms of both depression and addiction.

Few Essential Facts

In practice, chronic depression is an integral part of the hard reality that addicts face especially during their recovery. When they feel depressed seeing the destruction they have caused in their life. Prolonged usage of drugs alters the brain programming in such a manner that they inevitably search for an escape from the hard reality they face. This depression may again entice them to use drugs all over again. Some people describe the syndromes of depression and addiction as a married couple who can not exist without each other.

Although the addicts’ brain is programmed for quick relief and instant gratification, therefore one should not use anti-depressants even when he feels depressed during recovery. Anti-depressants offer nothing more than a temporary solution. It is better to seek family support at the time of depression or ask for help from volunteers who are continuously contributing in the field of addiction.

Ayurveda is the ancient form of treatment and medication which originated in India. It generally helps to treat diseases using the natural remedies along with meditation and exercises. This natural treatment is not only famous in the Asian countries but many Western countries have also adopted the medication owing to its effectiveness. It is seen that Ayurveda has been successful in curing several acute diseases. It also works wonders in the treatment of depression. When people go for conventional methods and treatment of depression through psychiatry, they face many side effects which harm the other facets of life. Moreover, it is seen that conventional medication cannot fully cure depression rather it just offers a temporary relief to the patient. Ayurveda on the contrary offers an effective and natural method of treating depression. It also prevents the re-occurrence of the disease to a great extent. Thus, experts always recommend natural remedies for depression rather than the conventional ones.

What Are The Causes Of Depression?

As per Ayurveda, there are mainly two reasons for depression:

• Due to imbalance in the three types of doshas.
• When a person is unaware of his or her inner self.

Mostly, depressions occur due to the imbalance of Kapha, which in turn, leads to the imbalance of other two doshas: Pitta and Vata. Owing to the loss of balances in the doshas which are the basic elements of human body, there is feeling of hopelessness and negativity. This causes the nervous system to function abnormally which results in depression.

The Ayurvedic Treatment for Depression:

The Ayurvedic treatments always vary from person to person and cannot be generalized. They depend on the constitution of the body and mind of an individual. Treatment for depression also depends on these two factors. It is also determined by the type of doshas which are suffering from imbalances. The treatment has been classified on the basis of the following:

Remedies for Pitta Depression:

• Dietary changes need to be included in your daily life so that the Pitta element of your body is pacified. You must not intake any rich or spicy food like red meat, fish, vinegar, cheese and tobacco. Include foods in your diet that help you to cool down like sweets, dairy products, cool drinks, etc. It is best if a person can maintain vegetarian diet.
• Yoga and meditation are great for faster recovery.
• Do avoid the sun as much as possible.
• Try to intake herbs like coconut, aloe, sandalwood, shatavari and mint.
• Always bath using cool water. Try to avoid taking hot water showers or bath.
• Practicing of Panchakarma is also great for the body and mind.

Remedies For Vata Depression:

• You must always go to bed early and sleep for sufficient time at night.
• Mild exercise and yoga routine is great.
• Changes in the diet are also essential. Intake food which are heavy, warm and gives strength. Do avoid the intake of fruits, salads and food products containing caffeine. Restrict the consumption of spicy food, milk, nuts and dairy products. Eat food like pasta, rice, and soup which are heavy and warm.
• The use of herbs like cinnamon, ginger, cumin, and Gotu kola is great in this type of depression.
• It is also good to get a daily massage of the whole body. However, if you do not have much time go for the head and foot massage daily.

Remedies For Kapha Depression:

• Avoid the sun.
• Mild exercises and meditation is always recommended.
• Use herbs like ginger tea, turmeric and pepper in your food.
• In the dietary changes, you must restrict using fat elements, oils, meat, sweets, desserts, and food items which are not warm. You must eat spicy food and soups in your daily diet. It is also good to intake honey in small amounts daily which help to pacify the Kapha.

Along with the above-mentioned remedies, expert physicians can also suggest you effective Ayurvedic medicine for depression which ensures great results in the long run.

It is natural to feel down once in a while but if these blues do not seem to be leaving and it is starting to affect your general function, then maybe it is depression that you are suffering from. In today's time, depression is one of the most common mental disorders. It is found in both adults and teenagers and a matter of growing concern. It gets harder to work and go about your life when you are constantly weighed down by the feeling of sadness and a lack of interest in everything.

Understanding What Is Not Depression

It should be taken into account that temporary mood fluctuations do not classify as depression. Sadness is a human emotion; it is a response to undesirable events and is not necessarily harmful. It is only when that it persists for a long time and has adverse effects on a person, physically or psychologically that you need to put your foot down and seek help.

Here are some of the most common symptoms associated with depression –

1. A constant feeling of tiredness
2. There is a significant fall in your interest towards things that you used to enjoy. There is loss of libido as well
3. You either have problem falling asleep or you sleep a lot, these conditions are insomnia and hypersomnia respectively
4. You are not able to concentrate on things and suffer from memory problems like forgetfulness and confusion. Depression is often associated with short-term memory loss
5. A feeling of restlessness and anxiety
6. Inability to make decisions
7. Suicidal thoughts and attempt at suicide

Things and Life Events That Can Cause Depression

There can be many causes of depression and some people have a higher chance of getting depression than other.

1. Some life events like divorce, the death of a loved one, medical concerns or stress due to studies or work can cause depression in adults and teenagers alike.
2. Traumatic events in childhood are a very common thing among depressed people.
3. People who have had a depressive episode earlier in life are at a higher risk of suffering from the same than someone who hasn't experienced this before.
4. Drug abuse has a strong link with depression.
5. Alcohol is a patron of depression as well.

Ayurvedic Viewpoint Regarding Depression

Ayurveda claims that depression is caused due to the imbalance in psychic energies such as sattva, rajas, and tamas along with an imbalance in physical energies like Vata, pitta, and Kapha. Thinking negative thoughts all the time and a lack of mental discipline can cause an imbalance in your energies thus causing depression.

Ayurvedic Treatment for Depression

Unlike other branches of medicine, Ayurveda stresses on natural remedies for depression . It persuades people to strengthen the mind, undergoes therapies and has a change in lifestyle to effectively counter depression. Here are some of the things you might try for a better lifestyle.

1. As the old saying goes, early to bed and early to rise, makes a person healthy, wealthy and wise. It is seen that going to bed early, waking up early and doing physical exercise has a profound positive effect on the body.
2. Meditation is your ally in keeping a healthy mind. The more peaceful your mind feels, the more stable your energies are.
3. It cannot be stressed enough what wonders a good diet can have on defeating depression. Eat a balanced diet of fresh and seasonal fruits and vegetables. Avoid alcohol and smoking. Eat your food in a fixed time.
4. Read thought provoking books and listen to good music. Your mind will feel refreshed and happy.

Are you filled with despair and emptiness? Has life lost its meaning for you, and no one could possibly understand your feelings? Do you believe there is no future without your loved one? It is likely, if you are feeling this way that you are suffering from what is often called normal reactive depression. You are down and reacting because something or someone you cherish is gone.

We are not talking here about clinical or biochemical depression, although reactive depression can evolve into the clinical type. Depression from the loss of a loved one usually does not require medication, although in some instances it is prescribed, and is useful on a temporary basis. Here is what you need to know.

1. Not everyone gets depressed after the death of a loved one. It is perfectly normal not to suffer depression as it is to have to deal with it. However, after the death of a loved one, thoughts and attitudes often trigger loneliness and resulting depression, which occurs early in grieving. It features confusion, little motivation, altered self-esteem, lack of meaning, reduced functioning in one's social circle, insomnia, and low energy.

2. If you are depressed, acknowledge it. Describe it in detail, where it hurts, and what it feels like. "What is the message or messages this emotion is delivering to me?" is an important question to address. What do I need to accept? To let go of? The refusal to accept the loss is often a root cause of depression. Depending on what you believe about your depression will lead to choices that either help you manage it, or prolong it.

3. Talk to your best friend. Remember, the more you isolate yourself – and this is what depression tends to do – the more you will increase emotional and physical stress. Saying how you really feel (especially what you fear and how angry you may be) to someone you are confident of being with, is an excellent antidote for your grief and to deal with depression. And, forgiving yourself and others, will also release depressed feelings.

4. Use a universal treatment for depression: exercise. Physical activity will have an affect on brain chemistry and help in the management of depression. Take 10-15 minute walks, preferably with someone. This will activate your endorphins and affect mood.

5. Find a symbol of comfort and guidance. Create a symbol that will bring back loving memories of the person who died and / or of your Higher Power who is with you at all times, and will help you through your great loss. Keep the symbol in a place where you will see it often and use it as a cue to think of loving memories – and to accept the new conditions of life.

6. Are deep seated negative beliefs (I can't go on alone, I'm being punished, I'm never going to feel better, I'm worthless, etc.) adding to your depression? Regain your power. Take it back from those beliefs that say you are less and not more. Believe you can get well. Create opposing affirmations and keep repeating them throughout the day.

7. Start learning to tolerate uncertainty. This can be accomplished by turning toward your spiritual and symbolic beliefs. You will increase your options by letting your spiritual beliefs guide you and strengthen your faith that you will get through this hurtful loss. Know what you can and cannot control. You can control how you deal with major changes; you cannot control what others say and do or what has already happened.

8. Let possibility educate you out of depression. Here is where your imagination can help in a very positive way. Are you open to exploring the numerous choices there are for dealing with loss? Begin to learn about them from others, support groups, readings, and the experts. By creating options for dealing with fear, anger, guilt, and negative thoughts, you can change your view of what lies ahead.

9. Check your eating habits and whether you have an insufficiency of amino acids. Protein consumption at all three meals can affect neurotransmitters and your energy levels. Reduce carbohydrate (not complex carbs), sugar, alcohol, and fast food consumption, and increase fruits and vegetables. The way you feel physically will add to or detract from depression.

Whenever you feel depression creeping back in, immediately ask yourself this key question, "What are my choices here?" If you are burying your feelings and not facing them, depression is a common result.

Refuse to withdraw from life; make connections and express your feelings to a support group or to your best friend. If your depressive symptoms go on for more than a couple of months, be sure to consult a professional counselor. You can get through this darkness and into the light by taking action early (don't wait for it to worsen) to deal with this pervasive emotion.

Kate Spade

Anthony Bourdain

A child

A father

A mother

A friend

A brother

A sister

A client …

Who among us have not had our lives influenced by an encounter with death by suicide. When you serve those who journey with a mood disorder, explorations of suicidal thoughts and fantasies come with the territory. When the news is full of information about this kind of death, our antennas go up, making sure we are looking out for those in our care.

Most of us learn to explore this territory with some ease if not confidence, none of us want to lose someone to suicide. We soldier into the conversation with some clear objectives:

• Is there a plan?
• How serious and immediate is that plan?
• Do they have access to the resources to carry out that plan?
• Etcetera.

We AND our clients have access to information but not always ample and equal access to resources. The recent celebrity deaths can and are having an influence with clients journeying through the darker environs of grief and / or mood disorders.

Back in the eighties, I worked at the Western Institute of Neuropsychiatry (WIN) on the mood disorders unit. We had the luxury of working with all patients individually for hours at a time. This was in addition to groups, medication stabilization, etc. Our team consisted of a psychiatrist, psychologist, a couple of social workers and nurses, with ancillary service providers on staff. We met regularly, exchanging information and collaborating on care.

Most inpatient facilities these days afford no such luxuries. Nonetheless, hospitalization to protect clients from immediate danger is the standard of care, as it should be. But what about those clients who are not presenting with a clear and present danger and are at risk nonetheless?

One thing I learned from my early and very satisfying experiences at WIN is the importance of having a care team. Having a care team enables practitioners to "put the hospital around the patient," as a brilliant colleague would say.

This means:

• increasing the number of visits to two, three, four or more times a week
• with the clients' permission, including family or friends in the care plan as needed
• communicating at regular times between visits
• helping the client map out a somewhat structured day plan – this is extremely valuable to those suffering with the brain fog and heaviness that can accompany mood disorders
• supporting them in using the small, easy practices they have learned. Loving kindness meditations via apps can be useful for clients during this time. Unless they have already been practicing mindfulness, it is not the best time to learn mindfulness.
• collaborating with the client's care team. For me that generally means my client and the prescribing practitioner.

This final point, collaborating with the prescribing practitioner is one that I see is often neglected by practitioners in private practice. As my mentor, Dick Olney would say, "Don't wait until you are in the middle of a fire to practice a fire drill."

When someone is shut down by the heaviness of depression AND they are considering suicide – there's a firestorm. We are able to provide better care when we have a good collaborative relationship with our clients' prescribing practitioner. If you have clients on medication and you are not in touch with the person prescribing medication for them, I hope you will get a release if you don't already have one, reach out to consult and collaborate about your shared client. Developing this kind of collaborative relationship puts you in the position to help access valuable resources for your client when they may not be able to do so.

AND, take care of yourself. Seriously. Reach out to your friends, take some time to be in the woods and put your feet on the grass. If you've lost someone to death by suicide, you are likely carrying some tension. How is the news about death by suicide affecting you and your practice?

DEPRESSION and anxiety disorders are psychosomatic conditions, i.e., a combination of psychological and physical factors. While the physical (or somatic) component of the condition is treated with anti-depressants, the psychologcal component is treated through psychotherapy.

Psychotherapy involves talking to a mental health professional such as a psychiatrist, psychologist, social worker or a counselor who first identify the reason for an anxiety disorder and how to alleviate the impact of the reason on the patient’s psyche. The particular type of psychotherapy that has been found very useful in treating anxiety disorders is: Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT). As its name suggests, CBT comrpises two elements: the cognitive element, and the behavioral element.

Cognitive element: The cognitive element of CBT helps people amend the thought structure that generates the fears and anxieties that have caused the anxiety disorder.

Behavioral element: The behavioral element of CBT encourages people to change the nature of their reaction to anxiety-causing situations.

Illustrations of how CBT works: Suppose a psychiatrist is treating a patient suffering from an obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in which he or she is afraid of being infected by germs, so keeps washing hands repeatedly. A psychiatrist or a trained professional in mental health will allow this patient’s hands to get dirty and wait for increasing lengths of time before allowing him or her to washing them. When this exercise has been repeated several times, and the patient find that no infection has been caused despite the dirty hands that remained unwashd for so long, his or her fears of infection through germs will decrease.

Another example of how CBT works is, say, in the treatment of social phobia. The patient is encouraged to be present in social situations he or she fears and is allowed to commit social errors or inetiquettes. It will then be pointed out to him that nobody has really noticed – or might have noticed but did not give it any importance, or, better still, some others too have committed the same errors and are yet socially very comfortable – the patient will become more receptive to the social setting he or she once feared.

CBT usually lasts around three months and is administered individually or in groups. It may begin directly with the patient or may begin with videos and pictures depicting the situation the patient fears and how he overcomes the fears.

Finally, CBT can only work with the patient’s cooperation. The patient must acknowledge that an anxiety disorder afflicts him/her and must therefore want to take this therapy. Backed with administration of anti-depressant drugs, CBT can enable people with anxiety disorders live a normal and full life.