kalla724 comments on Attention control is critical for changing/increasing/altering motivation - Less Wrong
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Interesting. I wonder if this explains the reason why I'm usually happier when I don't focus/constantly ask myself if I'm happy. The theory would explain it like so: I ask myself if I'm happy, and I notice all the things that are preventing me from being optimally happy. As I keep asking myself, I become better at noticing those things, thus becoming less happy.
At the moment, the balance of evidence supports CBT as the most effective therapeutic approach for depression. And CBT is in large part based on training yourself to pay attention to positive thoughts while ignoring depressive ones.
So, it would appear that you wonder along the right lines here. :)
It would seem to follow that CBT causes patients' ability to read the information conveyed by their depressive ruminations to deteriorate. Are there trade-offs in CBT for depression larger than we're aware of?
That is possible, but note that depression itself is massively bad for, well, anything, including the quality of thoughts.
Certainly that's true of severe depression, but mild depression carries some intellectual benefits. Greater rationality seems to be among them.