PD Revelation

In a prior post I talked about the need to push past the medical establishment dogma that holds Parkinson's to be incurable. I offered a quote from JH that makes clear what a powerful impediment that dogma can be for someone trying to recover. And I mentioned that it can also shape the doubts of those around us. This too can fuel doubts of our own, interfering with our recovery.

So the question is how to counteract that. I would say one way is through self-administered cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). As JH makes clear in RFP (2020), CBT can be a valuable adjunct to the practice she outlines for recovery from Parkinson's. For me it's been an indispensable part of my practice. See this prior post for a detailed example of how I applied it in tackling one obstacle.

In a another past post I linked to this simple article explaining how to do cognitive restructuring, a key technique of CBT that can be particularly useful to those of us working to recover from years on pause. I also provided a collection of videos covering various aspects of CBT with an emphasis on cognitive restructuring.

So how might you apply cognitive restructuring to counteract the influence of others' doubts about your ability to recover? In that collection of videos the one titled “Do It Yourself CBT” provides a simple set of steps. See particularly steps 5-8. The article linked to above is more fleshed out, providing more detail, yet is still very clear. (for instance, it provides guidelines for identifying cognitive distortions) And of course this should all be done in conversation with your Friend.

Let's look just at the gist:

First, identify any irrational or dysfunctional thought/belief (AKA cognitive distortion) you may be harboring in response to others' doubts. For instance, you may have the thought, “Some people think I can't recover, so that's probably what I should think as well.” Or you may have any number of other dysfunctional thoughts about possible doubts held by medical professionals, friends, family, acquaintances, or even people you don't know. Observe your thinking to identify which of these thoughts may be bolstering your own doubts.

Second, identify the pieces of evidence you use to support that belief. For instance, “It seems like it's usually right to go along with what others think.”

Third, dispute that evidence and create a healthy, rational thought to replace the dysfunctional one. For instance, “History shows us it's very often incorrect to go along with what others think. Given that others' doubts here are fed by an uninformed medical establishment, this appears to be one of those cases. So I can be confident in my ability to recover.”

Again, there are multiple other angles from which you might approach the replacement thought. Find one or more that resonate for you. Repeat and adjust as needed.

Our reaction to others' doubts can seriously hinder our recovery. Try some CBT to remedy that!

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“One of the ego's favorite paths of resistance is to fill you with doubt.” ~ Ram Dass