I just watched a 17 minute Tedx Talk with Dr. David Burns, who wrote the massive best-selling self-help book, Feeling Good, The New Mood Therapy. And it's really one of the best Ted Talks I've ever seen. This is the guy who pioneered the use of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) as a treatment for depression. This approach, has now, in study after study, been shown to be as effective (and even more effective) than antidepressants in the treatment of depression. This isn’t surprising since up to 50% of all patients stop taking medications with 2 months of starting them due to unpleasant side-effects, and CBT has no side effects, of course.
He explains the basics of how and why this approach works, plus a little bit of the history of how he got over his initial skepticism that this approach would ever work. I wasn't surprised that this Tedx Talk would be interesting. Dr. Burns is a brilliant thinker. But I was surprised that I actually teared up watching this moving tale of his first CBT patient (who was suicidal) and then the even more moving tale of the birth of his son! (You won't believe what happens.)
If you're interested in the subject of anxiety and depression and alternative approaches for treating it, (other than pharmaceutical) or just the history of CBT watch this! I promise you won't be disappointed. Spoiler alert: He gets off to a slow start: be patient and this program will pay off big benefits. Here's the link: David Burns Tedx Talk
James Porter is President of StressStop.com and author of the book STOP STRESS THIS MINUTE.