A high percentage of chronic pain sufferers seem to be affected by recurrent imagery that is linked to and aggravates their pain.  Often the imagery's occurrence only emerges with careful questioning.  "Rescripting" these images is associated with impressive short term improvements in pain and distress.  What's exciting is the potential for longer term benefits from this kind of rescripting approach ... not only for chronic pain sufferers but also for people suffering from other persistent distressing states like depression and anxiety.

I read a lot of research. When I find an article of particular interest I download it to my bibliographic database -

"It is one of the most beautiful compensations of life, that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself."  Ralph Waldo Emerson

"We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms - to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way."   Viktor Frankl  

I wrote an initial post yesterday on the very interesting recent Lancet paper "Cognitive behavioural therapy as an adjunct to pharmacotherapy for primary care based patients with treatment resistant depression: Results of the CoBalT randomised controlled trial".  In today's post I want to give a little more context to this trial and a bit more detail about the patients treated and the treatment used.

I read a lot of research. When I find an article of particular interest I download it to my bibliographic database -

I wrote an initial post on "New research suggests ... focus on strengths rather than weaknesses" a couple of days ago.  I discussed various reasons for thinking that better matching of patients to more personalized treatments could be helpful (although difficult) and looked as well at several research studies that have explored possible benefits of focusing treatment - particularly early in the course of therapy - on patient strengths rather than their weaknesses.