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Gabrielle J. Melin, M.D.
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Gabrielle J. Melin, M.D.
Gabrielle J. Melin, M.D.
Dr. Gabrielle Melin, board certified in general psychiatry and psychosomatic medicine, is looking for ways to empower patients and families dealing with chronic mental illness. She encourages patients to commit to working together with their physicians and health care teams.
Dr. Melin completed medical school at the University of Minnesota. She completed both her psychiatry residency and consultation-liaison fellowship at Mayo Clinic before joining the Mayo Clinic staff in 2001. She is medical director of Mayo Clinic Psychiatry Emergency Services in Rochester, Minn. She has special interests in emergency psychiatry, adult psychiatry and addiction psychiatry.
"Instilling hope is one of the most important things we can do for patients and families. Mental illness can be chronic and significantly impacts lives. Our goal is to provide the best treatment and education so that patients can manage their symptoms more effectively," she said.
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Depression blog
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March 31, 2009
Cognitive behavioral therapy: Thinking errors
By Gabrielle J. Melin, M.D.
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Cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT, is just one of many types of talk therapy that can be used effectively to treat depression as well as anxiety and other mental illnesses. In my last blog post, I went over five specific types of thinking errors that can worsen mood, including all or none thinking, over generalization, mental filter, rejecting the positive and jumping to conclusions.
In this post, I will discuss five other thinking errors. These include:
- Magnification or minimizing. You magnify (blow out of proportion) your own human errors and others' successes. Alternatively, you minimize (discount) your successes and good qualities while minimizing other's mistakes.
- Should statements. This leads to anger, guilt, frustration and resentment. Attempting to motivate yourself by saying should or shouldn't is like saying you have/need to be punished in order to do something. "I should have done more to help," does you no good in the long run.
- Emotional reasoning. If you feel a certain way then that means it is true. "I feel bad, so it must be true and I am a bad person."
- Labeling and mislabeling. An even more extreme form of over generalizing. Saying "I'm a loser" after making one mistake is attaching an inaccurate label to oneself. Mislabeling could be calling another person "lazy" when describing their behavior.
- Blame and personalization. This is when you take personal responsibility for something that is not in your control. An example could be blaming oneself for a spouse's medical illness by saying, "I am to blame, if only I had made him/her exercise more."
As you can see, these thinking errors can contribute to worsening mood. Things didn't get to this point overnight, so it will take some time to change your thinking. Cognitive behavioral therapy is a powerful tool. It's not for everyone but is effective in treating depression. Work with a trained health professional to determine the best type of therapy and treatment plan for you. Best of luck to you all and please share your experiences.
12 comments posted
August 13, 2009 4:20 a.m.
Just want to say that although i've attended CBT and think it's a really useful therapy, I disagree with the term 'thinking errors', they are not malfunctions, it's the brain surviving life the best way it knows at the time in a given situation and is 100% natural and has helped you survive, you can make a deliberate decision to change your thinking habits and that's great, although sometimes difficult, but I think CBT is treading on dangerous ground with the term 'thinking errors'.
- Sarah
July 26, 2009 6:41 p.m.
I've learned that when I find I'm thinking bad thoughts about myself, it's because I'm in a depression episode. For me it's been a really big help to realize that the bad thoughts are my "depression thoughts" and not my real self. I'm learning to stop reacting to the "bad self" thoughts and start thinking "good self" thoughts instead.
- Jan
June 23, 2009 4:59 p.m.
You here pople talk about physical ailments quite freely however you cannot discuss mental illness in public. There is still a stigma attached to this kind of conversation.
- bob
June 7, 2009 10:08 p.m.
I’m in My second week with cognitive behavioral therapy. Even in this short of time I’m starting to catch Myself having thinking errors. I will say things to myself, and a second later I will say that is not right. I still have a long way to go. Presently I’m on a lot of meds and I so want to get off them and enjoy a little of life. Wishing You the best of luck.
- john
May 11, 2009 12:34 a.m.
Once you are on medication for depression is it possible to ever fully wean off of it or is it something like a diabetic who has to take insulin for the rest of his life?
- ja
April 18, 2009 11:22 p.m.
is there a blog site where I can ask about how to change how I veiw myself? I've come to realize that I just don't like the person I am and this is not about the way I look or anything that surficial. I don't like who I am, the phony image I present to everyone else, etc. - I don't even like the things I'm good at. It's hard because I can't get away from myself. It's not like a person you don't like that you can walk away from.
- kathy
April 14, 2009 12:48 p.m.
Dear Bloggers- Please keep in mind that this Blog is not meant to diagnose or treat depression. Only a qualified health care provider can do that. The blog is meant to stimulate your thoughts and conversation. We provide the basics and then your job is to work with your provider to obtain a diagnosis and then to discuss appropriate treatment options. This blog is not a substitute for a Physician, therapist, etc.
- Mayo Clinic. Com Staff
April 10, 2009 2:56 p.m.
Even for somebody without a background that created a habit of negative thoughts, depression builds deep grooves of negativity into one's brain remarkably quickly. I've not found CBT that effective in ending a depressive episode, but once the episode is over, quite simply, a vital life skill once the depression starts to lift.
- Ann
April 7, 2009 7:05 a.m.
I love your articles, they are very helpful. Thanks for writing about it. I have suffered a very severe form of depression and I think I am in desperate need of cognitive behavioral therapy. I lost my job because all my colleagues seemed against me. I stopped performing and didn't even enjoy the dinners we had after work. The negativity lingered for so long and I finally had to leave the job which I loved so much. My kids are the ones suffering the most out of my situation. I wish if things improved quickly. Depression sucks...
- Dammo
April 5, 2009 1:17 a.m.
Great Article. Teenage Depression,Causes of Depression,Dealing With Depression, and More
- Shelly
April 1, 2009 11:43 p.m.
Thank you for this information. I had a therapist appointment today, and we discussed how to reframe thoughts- I do a lot of "should/shouldn't have" thinking. We traced it back to my Mom's expectations, then my grandmother's expectations of my Mom. That was very illuminating. I post it here because it rally gave me something to think about. I am to use positive affirmations as the "mature" way to motivate myself.
- Judy
March 31, 2009 11:00 a.m.
Thinking errors are so engrained in our thinking patterns that we have become accustomed to them and are difficult to identify and eradicate. Learning to identify our thinking errors is a good step to take.
- Jose
12 comments posted