Does cognitive therapy only work with intelligent people? Or can it help *stupid* people quit drugs too?

Question

People often ask, what's the best way to treat drug addiction, eating disorders, depression and anxiety etc - is it medication, or is it talking therapy - or both?

You obviously need *some* level of language skill to be able to use cognitive therapy at all - and the more intelligent you are, the stronger your language skills will be.

But on the other hand, if you develop an illness that makes you paranoid, then the more intelligent you are, the more likely you are to come up with really wacky complicated conspiracy theories, which other people will find it hard to talk you out of.

I think crystal meth addiction is particularly worrying. Heroin addiction can be treated with methadone, but there's nothing like that for meth. And in some third world countries, literacy levels are very low. What would the western world do if our poorer neighbours got caught in a meth epidemic? If cognitive therapy doesn't work with people who have learning difficulties, it could be VERY scary!

Answer 1

To answer your first question: it depends on the therapist. If he is an "intelligent person" he will recognize that intelligence is relative. An African Bushman is as intelligent as a Wall Street stock broker when it comes to survival in his/her particular environment. The therapist needs to be and probably will be attuned to much the same environment as his/her client so he/she will understand his/her peculiar needs.There are no "stupid people" just mistaken ones.

By that word "mistaken" I mean, some people get "taken" by others (such as drug pushers and peer pressure) down "mis-directed" paths. Cognitive therapy administered by a competent understanding therapist can help these people. It sometimes takes a cured user who has been trained in the particular clients language and culture to do it.