Science Media Centre - "CBT - does it really work?"

[Sean]

Definitely. Don't get a cat, they always have their own secret agenda.

http://potluckcomics.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/dogs-and-cats.jpg

http://theimpersonals.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/dogs-vs-cats.jpg

And an oldie but still a goodie.

The Dog’s Diary

8:00 am - Dog food! My favorite thing!
9:30 am - A car ride! My favorite thing!
9:40 am - A walk in the park! My favorite thing!
10:30 am - Got rubbed and petted! My favorite thing!
12:00 pm - Milk bones! My favorite thing!
1:00 pm - Played in the yard! My favorite thing!
3:00 pm - Wagged my tail! My favorite thing!
5:00 pm - Dinner! My favorite thing!
7:00 pm - Got to play ball! My favorite thing!
8:00 pm - Wow! Watched TV with the people! My favorite thing!
11:00 pm - Sleeping on the bed! My favorite thing!


The Cat’s Diary

Day 983 of My Captivity

My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects. They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while the other inmates and I are fed hash or some sort of dry nuggets. Although I make my contempt for the rations perfectly clear, I nevertheless must eat something in order to keep up my strength.

The only thing that keeps me going is my dream of escape. In an attempt to disgust them, I once again vomit on the carpet. Today I decapitated a mouse and dropped its headless body at their feet. I had hoped this would strike fear into their hearts, since it clearly demonstrates my capabilities. However, they merely made condescending comments about what a “good little hunter” I am. Bastards!

There was some sort of assembly of their accomplices tonight. I was placed in solitary confinement for the duration of the event. However, I could hear the noises and smell the food. I overheard that my confinement was due to the power of “allergies.” I must learn what this means, and how to use it to my advantage.

Today I was almost successful in an attempt to assassinate one of my tormentors by weaving around his feet as he was walking. I must try this again tomorrow, but at the top of the stairs.

I am convinced that the other prisoners here are flunkies and snitches. The dog receives special privileges. He is regularly released, and seems to be more than willing to return. He is obviously retarded. The bird must be an informant. I observe him communicate with the guards regularly. I am certain that he reports my every move. My captors have arranged protective custody for him in an elevated cell, so he is safe. For now ...

 

[trishrhymes]

CBT was a bit like talking to a nice, sensible friend.....who in retrospect you realised had their own secret agenda.

The CBT I had (6 sessions provided by GP to help me cope with distress at having to give up work because of ME) was more like 'bored man on a train' who half listens then wants to tell you everything you say is wrong.

Worse than useless, and he expected me to climb 2 flights of stairs to get there!

Not sure which is worse, the 'concerned friend' or the bored and useless.

 

[Large Donner]

I await this briefing for journalists:

"Science Media Centre - Essential or Indispensable?"

Modern journalism:

One person says something one person says something else, the journalist writes down a bit of what they both said then transfers even less of that onto a piece of paper. The editor changes the wording and sensationalizes the heading.

Job done.

No digging for straw man argument, no following the money, no challenging, no investigation.

Result:

The reader doesn't know who to believe.

Consequence:

The person prepared to tell the biggest lies realises this, plays NLP games, throws out strawmen, plays appeal to authority, acts as the authority, calls press conferences realizing that journalists are lazy and want money for nothing and as a result gets fully serviced by modern journalism.

The journalist goes along to the press briefing by the "authority" enjoys the free tea and biscuits gets to sit in a nice warm room soaks up the NLP copies and pastes the briefing into a "feature" yearns for more free tea and biscuits, keeps going back to every "expert" briefing sits in a nice warm room........and so on and so on.

This is the post modern age where all opinions are equal and the facts are there to be established by the reader except the facts are "all opinions are equal".

However, the problem is that those prepared to tell more lies do it because they know they can muddy the waters because of modern "impartial journalism".

 

[Valentijn]

CBT isn't even that cheap. Psychologists charge quite a lot per session. Treating POTS with a med would likely be cheaper. The psychs have somehow convinced the system that they are worth the money.

Ahh, but treating POTS with meds is indefinite, whereas a few months of CBT cures you forever of any malady!

CBT was a bit like talking to a nice, sensible friend.....who in retrospect you realised had their own secret agenda.

Yes, mine was supposed to be supportive CBT, but then it turned into "cure yourself by getting out, doing more, avoiding disability aids, and/or having a baby." It was a pretty devastating betrayal, and I probably won't trust a psychologist again until it's become universally accepted that ME is 100% biological and CBT does nothing for treating it.

Worse than useless, and he expected me to climb 2 flights of stairs to get there!

Just one flight of stairs for me, but it was a long one

 

[SilverbladeTE]

Right... it's not that cheap - hence more money in the pocket of those who practice it instead of running more and more tests and funding the studies that do not yet (at least a few years ago) offer a hope of identifying this condition.

You get enough people telling NHS that these people have a condition of the mind and they only need a few months of CBT, and you can save yourself the $20-30 million that ought to have been spent towards helping identify and treat the real condition.

part of how the "NeoLiberal" cabal has spread it's evil deep into society in last 20 years
they will say whatever crap sounds "ideologically cool" to dumb ass politicians...and everyone earns lots of backhanders...
meanwhile, essential services, infrastructure, the REAL military etc get screwed by this ever increasing tide of garbage as corporate crooks and asset strippers wreck things to make themselves MOAR MONEY!

it's got nothing to do with actual sane Capitalism, it's Corporate Fascism.
What makes that especially dangerous is that the "corporate" mentality/system has them totally insulated from the society and responsibility that many politicians and religious leaders do, thus, there's less chance of "common sense" putting the brakes on it, just as if the most extreme maniacs of politics or religion got their hands on the levers of power.

CBT, attacks on disabled, etc are just part of it
the successful use of M.E. patients as a scapegoats and test subject for their manipulations, helped let them get their "chisel" to pry a crack into the health system and people's morals exactly ass the SAME kind of evil SOBs did with Eugenics almost 90 years ago did, and we know where that led to...and I can guess exactly where this garbage now is going to end.

 

[SilverbladeTE]

http://potluckcomics.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/dogs-and-cats.jpg

http://theimpersonals.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/dogs-vs-cats.jpg

And an oldie but still a goodie.

lol, classic!

 

[Invisible Woman]

and/or having a baby

Yeah, I got that once too. Having just spent ages explaining the difficulties of just surviving day to day. I asked if it was the official policy our local hospital trust to recommend that patients who couldn't look after themselves be advised to go give birth and then be responsible for a totally dependant baby. With no local support. I also enquired as to whether the NSPCC had been made aware of such a policy.

He ummed and ahhed and went pale when I offered to get in contact with them to find out. I found that bit quite therapeutic.

 

[Snowdrop]

Big Brother has observed you are thinking as a free minded individual with rational thought, please go to the cognitive reassignment (CBT) area of Zone A immediately, this is not healthy for you!

Sadly, Orwell didn't anticipate that he'd need to write in a Preface to the 1984 book that it was NOT a training manual.

that they adopt any old thing that seems to offer what they're tasked with delivering, regardless of whether it's any use or even safe. It's tunnel vision, and the psych industry is exploiting it.

One could say that this is truly the psych's area of expertise--exploiting every and all niche's--because they are of so little relevance they need to protect and expand turf.

 

[wastwater]

I had cbt based teachings for hypothyroidism they eventually prescribed levothyroxine,I preferred that.

 

[sarah darwins]

One could say that this is truly the psych's area of expertise--exploiting every and all niche's--because they are of so little relevance they need to protect and expand turf.

I keep thinking re the PACE authors that they've proven the value of psychology — in marketing and persuasion. They're ever so good at it.

 

[natasa778]

I keep thinking re the PACE authors that they've proven the value of psychology — in marketing and persuasion. They're ever so good at it.

I didn't know until few days ago that psychology/psychiatry were closely guarded professions in the former Eastern Block. Only those who could pass rigourous tests of political suitability (family history and personal affiliation to the communist party and ideas, proven track record of past activities etc) were admitted to those universities.

These professions were used as tools of propaganda and population control by the regime (what nicer and easier way to get rid of undesirables than to write them off as mentally unstable...). We might be witnessing a diluted and nuanced version of the same thing.

 

[alex3619]

whereas a few months of CBT cures you forever of any malady!

I need to add it to my will. They can bring me back after I die.

 

[TiredSam]

I need to add it to my will. They can bring me back after I die.

I quite like the idea of my corpse being delivered to a BPS CBT session - it would be a lesson in pervasive refusal syndrome they'd never forget. I wonder if they'd put me in the recovered category anyway?

 

[alex3619]

I wonder if they'd put me in the recovered category anyway?

They obviously will because after they send you away you never came back.

 

[Snowdrop]

We might be witnessing a diluted and nuanced version of the same thing.

I think the word subtle might apply. Because we live in a 'democracy' where it's not nice to blatantly instill fear and use strong arm methods openly. To me that makes it just that bit more insidious--there is a patina of respectability.

 

[CFS_for_19_years]

Real explanations of what's gone wrong and what it's going to take to fix it are hard to come by. Thinks like mass spectrometers and deranged metabolites are just hard for the average clinician to wrap their head around. There is inertia with getting this getting this type of research off the ground. It takes the vision of very dedicated scientists to make this make good research happen and overcome the lazy thinking of psychobabblers. On the other hand, talk therapy and exercise are things everyone understands. Laziness and egotism is what perpetuates wrong thinking, plus the urge for psychobabblers to want to say "See, we can cure anything." It puffs up their egos.

Real science (not psychobabble) is hard work. If it was easy (and politically palatable) metabolic screening would have been up and running (not to mention a cure) years ago.

In my foggy mind, I don't know how else to say it.

 

[JohnCB]

I quite like the idea of my corpse being delivered to a BPS CBT session - it would be a lesson in pervasive refusal syndrome they'd never forget. I wonder if they'd put me in the recovered category anyway?

All they need to do is re-score you on the Chalder-feeling-a-little-bit-sleepy-scale and it will be immediately apparent that you were really a lot better than you thought you were. Death, a functional disorder, or just another form of depression. Pull yourself together, man. Put your head and legs back on and do some exercise.

 

[sarah darwins]

I quite like the idea of my corpse being delivered to a BPS CBT session - it would be a lesson in pervasive refusal syndrome they'd never forget. I wonder if they'd put me in the recovered category anyway?

"The patient showed a pleasing absence of resistance compared to previous attempts at therapy."

 

[Dolphin]

James Coyne has done a blog on this too.

https://jcoynester.wordpress.com/20...g-on-cognitive-behaviour-therapy-trustworthy/

[QUOTE = Quick Thoughts - One of James C. Coyne's Blogs]
Is the Science Media Centre briefing on cognitive behaviour therapy trustworthy?

The UK Science Media Centre (SMC) offered to journalists (and any citizen scientists too busy or too lacking in confidence to make their own critical appraisals) a briefing on cognitive behavior therapy .

I offer a quick critical appraisal of the “three top experts” advertised as giving an honest appraisal.

I conclude that what would be offered is highly biased. Any organization making claims that such an evaluation is trustworthy is itself untrustworthy. Please read on and decide if you agree with me.

Meta-lesson: When you encounter a source that screams to you that it is trustworthy, maybe you should be particularly skeptical and simply move on to alternative sources

It ends:

"Institutions and websites like SMC which brand themselves as trusted sources should offer independent critical evaluations of claims that investigators are making about their favorite interventions. Otherwise, they are serving as l public relations machines."

 

[Solstice]

Yeah, I got that once too. Having just spent ages explaining the difficulties of just surviving day to day. I asked if it was the official policy our local hospital trust to recommend that patients who couldn't look after themselves be advised to go give birth and then be responsible for a totally dependant baby. With no local support. I also enquired as to whether the NSPCC had been made aware of such a policy.

He ummed and ahhed and went pale when I offered to get in contact with them to find out. I found that bit quite therapeutic.

You're all so lucky. All you have to do is pop out a baby to get well. I'll never have that option ;( . Maybe kidneystones will have the same effect?