Interview with Jesús Matos Larrinaga, author of Good morning, joy

Depression is one of the most common psychological disorders in Western countries, and also one of the most complex. For this reason, it is difficult to manage these effects on mood, both in cases of severe depression and in others in which there are milder depressive symptoms.

Fortunately, there are different types of aid that can serve as support when it comes to improving mood beyond the psychiatrist or psychologist's office. The book "Good Morning Joy" is one such resource.. This time we will talk to Jesus Matos, who in addition to being the author of this work, is a General Health Psychologist and mental health disseminator.

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Interview with Jesús Matos, author of "Good morning, joy"

Let's see what are the ideas that led to the creation of this interesting book.

Q. Hello Jesus. What were the fundamental objectives you had in mind when writing “Good morning, joy”?

R. The truth is that when I was writing the book, I simply wanted to be able to provide my patients at that time with a guide step-by-step of the techniques we were following during therapy so that they could resort to them whenever they needed them. needed.

At first I didn't even consider that the text I was writing could end up being a book. It was a mix between a personal diary and what I was doing week by week to overcome a difficult episode in which I found myself. deeply sad and dissatisfied and a step-by-step guide to gradually internalize the techniques that have proven most effective in problems depressive.

I suppose that the objective that moved me at that moment was to be able to provide the necessary knowledge about psychology and my personal experience so that the person who read the text was able to put into practice all the skills necessary to effectively manage sadness without ever having set foot in a psychologist's office before.

• You may be interested in: "The 6 differences between sadness and depression"

Q. What do you think is the main difference between this book and the idea that comes to mind when thinking about self-help books?

R. I have to confess that when the book was classified as "self-help" I was a little upset. Since the preconceived idea that we psychologists usually have about these types of books is that they are ineffective and they tend to focus on simple messages that the reader wants to hear and that in the end do not mean a change substantial.

Of course it was just a prejudice, as in life, within the self-help section there is everything. Books that have great scientific rigor and that can help a lot and books that convey messages that are not only empty but also potentially dangerous for the mental health of readers.

The main difference that I have found with respect to other self-help books is that in good morning joy a step-by-step itinerary is proposed so that the person reading it knows exactly what they have to do during that week to gradually acquire the necessary skills so that at the end of the program to be able to regulate sadness with effectiveness.

In addition, the techniques that are being proposed are the first choice according to the treatment guidelines for mood disorders. Which means that they have been shown to be effective in thousands of people around the world.

In the end, it is a different book because the approach is to simulate a 12-session therapy with a cognitive behavioral psychologist. Including homework that I usually recommend to my clients.

Q. Part of the book is based on the principles of cognitive restructuring, the part of psychological therapies that focuses on making us question our most harmful beliefs. In your experience, what are those self-defeating beliefs that patients who feel sad or depressed tend to hold?

R. Normally when we are sad for too long, a phenomenon occurs called the cognitive triad, that is, having negative thoughts about the future, the environment and ourselves themselves. This process (among others) makes sadness last over time.

But these thoughts are only the tip of the iceberg. That is, they are supported by a series of core beliefs that we have been developing throughout our lives. The problem is that when a stressful event occurs or our emotions of anxiety or sadness overwhelm us, what is called "cognitive schemas", which makes the dysfunctional core beliefs that we all have begin to have more weight in our life.

From my point of view, the most common and most harmful beliefs in depressive episodes have to do with the lack of worth or perception of little efficacy. This type of belief causes us to bias our perception to focus on negative stimuli, or even interpret neutral stimuli as negative. This phenomenon makes sadness perpetuate. Working with this type of bias is essential for the success of the therapeutic intervention.

Q. "Good morning, joy" is planned as a practical manual that gives guidelines to follow step by step. Do you think this kind of literature is useful for reaching people who have never considered going to psychotherapy with a psychologist?

R. Scientific evidence tells us that it is useful. It is true that there are few studies on interventions with bibliotherapy, but all point to the fact that this type of intervention can have positive effects. The key is that bibliotherapy is much less expensive than lifelong treatments.

This can have a great impact, perhaps not in terms of recovery of patients with depressive episodes, but in terms of preventing these problems. Let's not forget that the WHO predicts that by 2020 depression will be the most common cause of disability in the world.

In addition, psychologists have the handicap that hardly anyone knows exactly what we really do in our consultations.

All the professionals in this sector have come across people who ask us if we give advice or tell the person what they have to do... And nothing is further from reality, what we do is detect the variables that maintain the discomfort and train the patient to be able to modify them. I guess the book can be a good window into what happens inside a cognitive behavioral psychologist's office.

Q. It must be difficult to summarize all the interesting information that exists about depression and sadness. What criteria have you followed to choose the type of information that you would include in their pages?

R. The truth is that it is difficult. I don't think the book summarizes all the research there is about sadness and depression, nor was that its purpose. I wanted it to be something very useful and easy for the reader to understand. A text that could be transferred to his day to day so that it really meant a before and after.

The main inclusion criterion was the scientific evidence, I reviewed all those techniques that the treatment guides most prestigious companies pointed out as "first choice" and I selected those in which I was well trained and habitually used with my patients. Then I drew up a treatment plan that I self-applied to myself first and then gradually wrote it down.

Although it is true that the text has two types of techniques, those that I call "mandatory" which are those that, as I said, have plenty of evidence in studies from around the world when it comes to improving depressive symptoms, and another set of “optional” techniques that are more focused on increasing well-being and although they do not have so many studies behind them that support their effectiveness, they are demonstrating function.

Q. Many times it is said about depression that scientists dedicated to studying it place too much emphasis on what biological and leave aside its environmental or contextual component, which links us to our surroundings and to the rest of the people. Do you agree?

R. Well, in the end it all depends on the perspective with which it is studied. Surely if we measure the amount of serotonin in patients suffering from depression we will find that their levels are lower than those of patients without this problem. But we also have to take into account that certain activities, contexts or people can influence our serotonin levels (The same thing happens with other neurotransmitters).

Science prevails, and the old biology VS environment debate is outdated. Almost the entire scientific community understands that there is an influence of genetics, the environment and the interaction of both.

We have several psychological models to explain depression that have a very solid foundation. But we always have to take into account the purely biological part, otherwise we will also be falling into reductionism.

In these complicated disorders that affect all areas of a person's life, there are endless variables. that we have to take into account and apply the necessary techniques to modify them if we want to be successful therapeutic.

For this reason, both antidepressants and cognitive behavioral therapy are effective interventions in depression problems. Many times the key is to receive both treatments. Although unfortunately, very few people in our country have access to these treatments.

Q. Finally, what are the main myths about depression that you think do the most harm, and how do you think they could be combated?

R. I believe that the myth that does the most damage is to believe that the person suffering from depression is like this because they want to. We have to keep in mind that nobody gets up one day and decides to be sad most of the time. No one wants to stop enjoying the activities that made them happy before, and no one wants to have suicidal thoughts (among other symptoms).

It is true that we have influence over our emotional states. If not, there would be no point in clinical psychology, but the problem is that most of us are emotionally illiterate and we do not have the necessary resources to deal with these issues.

Both patients with depression and their loved ones need to understand that they are not this way by choice. Only understanding that the person really feels unable to get out of bed can we support them. Otherwise, we will continue to stigmatize all those who suffer from mental health problems and the problem will only get worse.