The Complete Egg

The before, during and after of a molar pregnancy, with a side of chemo and a 12 month wait before ttc. And most recently: experience of a healthy pregnancy.

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

"Does sadness really need to involve suffering?" David Burns asks this question in his book "Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy" which I am currently reading. I need to find ways to deal with some of my anxieties and his book seems to offer a bunch of practical strategies. I skipped to the chapter on "Sadness is not Depression" and read the question above. It interested me. Burns describes how our thoughts become distorted when we are depressed and this in turn causes us to feel hopeless, worthless, stuck, feeling empty, etc. I have been having a few thoughts that keep running around on the hamster wheel. Thoughts like "What if I have another miscarrige or molar pregnancy and can't have a baby?" and some other things related to my work (which I am not currently at because of the chemo treatments). One of Burn's main strategies is to write down your thoughts, see how they are distorted (he describes different distortions that I see myself doing all the time), and then write down a nuturing, rational response to these "distorted" thoughts. He advocates this method because he's trying to help you develop more positive self-talk (talk that shuts up the internal critic or worrier and provides you with a positive, nuturing internal voice). I tried that today and it did help. I'm feeling stronger and in a better frame of mind. Three cheers for self-help books!

1 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

You're an inspiration!

11:47 AM  

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