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Depression: Using Positive Thinking
Depression is an illness that makes a person feel sad and hopeless much of the time. It's different than feeling a little sad or down. Depression can be treated with counseling or medicine, or both.
Positive thinking also can help prevent or control depression.
Key points
- If you have thoughts of harming yourself or others, you need to see your doctor or therapist right away. Positive thinking can help with depression. But you may also need medicine and therapy.
- Negative thoughts can make depression worse or can raise your chance of having depression.
- Cognitive-behavioral therapy, or CBT, is a type of therapy that can help you replace negative thoughts with positive ones.
- Changing your thinking will take some time. You need to practice healthy thinking every day. After a while, positive thinking will come naturally to you.
What is positive thinking?
Why is positive thinking important to help you cope with depression?
How can you use positive thinking to cope with depression?
Where to go from here
If you would like more information, see the topic:
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| By: | Healthwise Staff | Last Revised: August 26, 2010 |
| Medical Review: | Kathleen Romito, MD - Family Medicine Sue Barton, PhD, PsyD - Behavioral Health | |
© 1995-2011 Healthwise, Incorporated. Healthwise, Healthwise for every health decision, and the Healthwise logo are trademarks of Healthwise, Incorporated. This information does not replace the advice of a doctor. Healthwise, Incorporated disclaims any warranty or liability for your use of this information. Your use of this information means that you agree to the Terms of Use. How this information was developed to help you make better health decisions.
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