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Comment by m-jones | Hacker News Reader

People aren't depressed because they want to be, CBT relies upon the false assumption that people are able to change their mood if they will it enough.

If we wish to treat depression, we should focus on life not being so depressing to begin with, not persuading people that actually it isn't once they have already spiraled into despair.

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It looks like you know nothing about cbt

I have been through three courses of CBT. On the third I was dismissed after six weeks because "I already knew it all" and the pediatrician thanked me as I had helped them "gain a better understanding". I found that it was only after receiving medication that I returned to mental stability.

I resent that you make a false assumption, having been through CBT so many times I feel I might even have a better knowledge of it than professionals whose only experience is from a text-book.

Now it's clear that in addition to knowing nothing about CBT, you also know nothing about what it takes to become a licensed therapist. My fiancé just became one, so I can help educate you: it goes far, far beyond textbook learning. After you get your Masters, you have to accumulate 3000 hours of supervised professional therapy under the guidance of another therapist who is licensed, and then after that you must pass an ethics exam and a clinical exam as well. Therapists are rigorously trained.

You don't know what country m-jones is in.

Which medication and for how long?

4mg of Fluoxetine daily for a little over two years.

Additional: Occassionally I may forget to take it and I won't feel any different however those around me pick up on it straight away as I become reclused and start constantly sweating.

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