book review: Backus and Chapian, Telling Yourself the Truth
William Backus and Marie Chapian, Telling Yourself the Truth: Find Your Way Out of Depression, Anxiety, Fear, Anger, and Other Common Problems by Applying the Principles of Misbelief Therapy (Minneapolis, Minn.: Bethany House Publishers, 2000).
Note: I received a copy of this book from the publisher for review.
I find the premise of this book intriguing but ultimately very hazardous -- not because what William Backus and Marie Chapian have to say about the ways in which many of us create and reinforce "misbeliefs" is wrong, per se, but because their volume rather strongly implies that even cases of serious depression can be treated without recourse to physiological medical treatment.
Clinical depression is a disease. Clinical depression requires medical treatment. I have witnessed the disastrous consequences of refusing to accept that clinical depression involves chemical imbalances in the brain -- imbalances that can be corrected by careful and proper use of medication developed through scientists' use of the wonderful, God-given gifts of reason and scientific inquiry. Toward the very end of this volume, Backus and Chapian do include medication in a long list of measures through which "God desires to work wholeness" (p. 191), but at no point in their chapter on depression does medication arise as part of a reasonable treatment regimen.
I would feel profoundly uncomfortable recommending this volume. I want those suffering from clinical depression, extreme anxiety, and other diseases to avail themselves of the full stable of options we have at our disposal to restore life, hope, and flourishing. "Misbelief therapy" -- redirecting the damaging misbeliefs we tell ourselves -- might well be useful for those struggling with negative thinking. But it should NOT be regarded as a substitute for medical treatment of clinical depression and anxiety.
If you are suffering from depression, please seek medical treatment. Depression is a disease, and it is NOT your fault.
Note: I received a copy of this book from the publisher for review.
I find the premise of this book intriguing but ultimately very hazardous -- not because what William Backus and Marie Chapian have to say about the ways in which many of us create and reinforce "misbeliefs" is wrong, per se, but because their volume rather strongly implies that even cases of serious depression can be treated without recourse to physiological medical treatment.
Clinical depression is a disease. Clinical depression requires medical treatment. I have witnessed the disastrous consequences of refusing to accept that clinical depression involves chemical imbalances in the brain -- imbalances that can be corrected by careful and proper use of medication developed through scientists' use of the wonderful, God-given gifts of reason and scientific inquiry. Toward the very end of this volume, Backus and Chapian do include medication in a long list of measures through which "God desires to work wholeness" (p. 191), but at no point in their chapter on depression does medication arise as part of a reasonable treatment regimen.
I would feel profoundly uncomfortable recommending this volume. I want those suffering from clinical depression, extreme anxiety, and other diseases to avail themselves of the full stable of options we have at our disposal to restore life, hope, and flourishing. "Misbelief therapy" -- redirecting the damaging misbeliefs we tell ourselves -- might well be useful for those struggling with negative thinking. But it should NOT be regarded as a substitute for medical treatment of clinical depression and anxiety.
If you are suffering from depression, please seek medical treatment. Depression is a disease, and it is NOT your fault.
Thank you for this perspective. As someone who has not only been trained as a counselor but who has had a front row seat to some very ugly mental illness, I appreciate the both/and approach. I believe that medication can settle brain chemistry down enough for the real work of therapy and God's healing to take hold. To be blunt, tackling sever depression or bipolar disorder without medication can too easily lead to suicide.
ReplyDeleteI love the way you have put this, that medication can help create the conditions for the essential work of therapy -- and God's healing -- to flourish.
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