There is no doubt that there are indeed expressions of mental illness that are diagnosable as organic problems that can only be treated with medication. Yet even in some severe cases, there seems to some room for cognitive intervention. I was reading a case study this morning about someone with severe anxiety disorder. It was so severe that the patient removed an IV twice during an attempt to treat her. The interesting comment made by the physician though was that “her sister calmed her down by talking to her and they were able to get the IV in the third time.” Do you see the paradox here?
Tags: anxiety, cognitive, Depression, medication, mental illness, therapy