Depression: Using Positive Thinking
Content provided by Healthwise
Introduction
Depression is an illness that makes a person feel sad and hopeless much of the time. It's different than feeling a little sad or down. Depression can be treated with counseling or medicine, or both.
Positive thinking also can help prevent or control depression.
Key points
- If you have thoughts of harming yourself or others, you need to see your doctor or therapist right away. Positive thinking can help with depression. But you may also need medicine and therapy.
- Negative thoughts can make depression worse or can raise your chance of having depression.
- Cognitive-behavioral therapy, or CBT, is a type of therapy that can help you replace negative thoughts with positive ones.
- Changing your thinking will take some time. You need to practice healthy thinking every day. After a while, positive thinking will come naturally to you.
What is positive thinking?
Why is positive thinking important to help you cope with depression?
How can you use positive thinking to cope with depression?
Where to go from here
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| Last updated: | August 27, 2008 |
|---|---|
| Author: | Marianne Flagg |
| Reviewed By: | Catherine D. Serio, PhD - Behavioral Health, Lisa S. Weinstock, MD - Psychiatry |
| Editors: | Katy E. Magee, MA, Michele Cronen |
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