Did cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) work for you I found it a waste of time?

My experiences of CBT: 1 - Write down the pro's and con's of how you act when under the appropriate duress. 2 - Write down how the con's make you feel. 3 - Write down how the pro's make you feel.

4 - Learn to understand what the feelings mean to you. 5 - Learn to recognise when you are feeling one of the above when confronted with what it is that troubles you. 6 - Learn to recognise when you are taking the feelings under the con list to heart and find what you could use to turn it into a pro.

As an example, I suffer from paranoid schizophrenia and, although the schizophrenia aspects have lessened over the years, I still have strong bouts of paranoia. I had to train myself to learn that when I am having a paranoid episode, I need to try and force myself to recognise it. How do I do this?

Because I know that when I'm paranoid, I see things happening against me, be it a conversation or something more severe. So, I learn when these feelings are then real and when they are in my head, by putting myself in the other persons shoes. I have to ask myself 'are they talking about me?

If so, why and about what? Is it more likely that their conversation has absolutely nothing to do with me in the slightest?' From that, I can start to calm myself down by recognising the vast majority of it is likely in my mind. Then I can look for what triggered it and try to turn it into a positive.

A further example of this was common in my old work place. Something would set me off and I would be adamant that someone was plotting to get me fired. It could last minutes or hours and could be set off by something as simple as seeing two people whispering.

By figuring out it was me and not actually happening, I could look at why I thought it in the first place and then look at the work I was doing, realise it is infact good and not a cause to be fired. Instead of a 4 hour episode, it might instead turn it into a 15 minute one. This is a long-winded one, so I apologise for that, but this is my personal experience.

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.