Does Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) really work or is it a scam?

[A.B.]

Some good points are raised which are relevant to CBT for ME/CFS.

 

[Undisclosed]

CBT should not be considered an evidence-based treatment intervention.

 

[Valentijn]

He's got a good point about the CBT approach blaming the symptoms for causing the disease ... depression causes the depressed thoughts, and all indications are that the depressed thoughts aren't causing the depression.

Though he's somewhat wrong in saying it's the only illness treated like that - the same school of practitioners contend that our ME symptoms indirectly cause the disease by making us think we're sick and disabled.

 

[place]

I did somewhat of a cognative training for sleep and it was very effective for the mind racing. It did not improve my sleep but it did allow me to shut off my mind so my body would go to sleep.

 

[peggy-sue]

In me, long-term, uncontrollable stress is what causes depression.
Mostly (pre-ME), it's been fairly straightforward.
I go nuts with anxiety, run around in circles talking to myself, can't eat, can't sleep, then wallop.
Full-blown clinical depression with full-blown anhedonia, when the negative feedback loop for ACTH breaks and turns into a feed-forward loop.

I really can't see cbt fixing that. It's organic.

Changing the situation to one where I am no longer subject to uncontrollable stress fixes it.

Or SSRIs, eventually.

My "negative thoughts" are all about reality.