
CBT may help reduce anxiety and depression in people with diabetes, but standardised approach needed
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is a widely-recognised tool in the arsenal of psychiatrists and psychologists, and appears centre-stage as a treatment option for many mental disorders including depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, eating disorders, and schizophrenia (Butler, Chapman et al. 2006).
CBT prioritises personal coping strategies for life difficulties and aims to change unhelpful patterns of cognition (thoughts, beliefs and attitudes), the behaviours associated with them, and can help strengthen emotional regulation (Beck 2016).
Whilst its utility in mental disorders has been repeatedly demonstrated, there is a growing field of research examining its ability to help manage chronic physical illnesses such as diabetes mellitus, Crohn’s disease, cancer, and rheumatoid arthritis (White 2001, Taylor 2006, Halford 2009).
The use of CBT, a strictly psychological technique and involving no pill-popping, for a chronic physical illness may not at first seem intuitive. However, diabetes doubles the odds of comorbid depression and 12-27% of people with diabetes experience depression at a rate two to three times that of the general population (Anderson, Freedland et al. 2001). Anxiety also occurs in around 14% of people with diabetes, and 40% show elevated levels of sub-syndromal anxiety (Smith, Beland et al. 2013).
One might suggest that a major factor linking all mental disorders is mental distress, which can similarly significantly impair those suffering chronic physical illnesses. Ameliorating mental distress may well be
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