Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy
by David D. Burns
List Price:
Our Price: $4.42
You Save: $3.57 (45%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $2.28 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: David D. BurnsEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1999-10-01
ISBN: 0380810336
Number of pages: 736
Publisher: Harper
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780380810338
- Condition: New
- Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
Book Reviews of Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy
Book Review: Choose to feel good!
Summary: 5 Stars
Optimist: One who believes things are so bad they're bound to get better. -Jerry Tucker (1941-)
When someone says they are depressed...what does that mean? Does life feel like it isn't worth living? Why would someone feel this way? Perhaps you have to look at the difference between happiness and joy. Not depression and Joy! Since happiness is usually defined as something which happens due to a "happy" event in our lives, Joy is more stable and in a way is a "choice to be happy." Just being happy now and then leaves gaps for depression to sneak into your life.
This is why cognitive therapy makes so much sense to me. If a depressed individual is actually chemically depressed, SAM-e is now on the market in America and doesn't have any of the side effects of the usual antidepressants. You have to deal with the chemical depression first. How can you think straight when you feel miserable.
I think anyone can be on the verge of depression, often one negative though can throw you over the edge. Perhaps this book can work as a gate to keep you up on the cliff and save you from falling over into depression or can help you climb back to the top where you will feel stable and in control.
I had one experience in my life which threw me over the cliff. To climb back up to the top, I had to change my thinking. To realize that life is worth living no matter what is going on in your life, is what brought me to a place of Joy. I believe having a religious belief system also is a great comfort to many people, as depression is often caused from a feeling of not belonging or feeling disconnected...perhaps without a purpose. A belief in a higher power is very soothing to your soul.
Dr. David D. Burns, M.D., offers some interesting insights, which become extremely helpful. While it is difficult to always look at life in a positive way, it can be done. It is more a decision. This decision then puts you on the path to Joy.
Most of the people I talk to daily are going through one of the 10 things on Dr. David's Cognitive Distortion list. Their thoughts have created a change in their mood, they feel sad over thinking someone has betrayed them, or they are anxious because they feel other people are thinking badly of them or are giving them negative feedback. The way they get themselves out of this thought process is to start to think logically and talk themselves out of the depression. Many are not actually depressed yet, but are speeding to the edge! Their thoughts are propelling them forward so fast that if they don't change course, it will happen. I find it much easier to start thinking positively and deal with life that way, than to try to climb out of depression.
I think you will find this Cognitive Distortion list intersting:
1. All-or-nothing Thinking: You see things in black-and-white categories. If your performance falls short of perfect, you see yourself as a total failure. 2. Overgeneralization: You see a single negative event as a never-ending pattern of defeat. 3. Mental Filter: You pick out a single negative detail and dwell on it exclusively so that your vision of all reality becomes darkened. 4. Disqualifying the Positive: You reject positive experiences by insisting they don't count. This allows you to continue to maintain a negative belief that is contradicted by your everyday experiences. 5. Jumping to Conclusions: You make a negative interpretation even though there are no definite facts that convincingly support your conclusion. 6. Magnification or Minimization: You exaggerate the importance of things or you inappropriately shrink things until they appear insignificant. 7. Emotional Reasoning: You assume that your negative emotions necessarily reflect the way things really are. You believe it so it must be true. 8. Should Statements: You try to motivate yourself with things you expect of yourself. The emotional consequence is guilt. When you direct these "should statements" towards others, the result is also anger, frustration and resentment. 9. Labeling and Mislabeling: This is an extreme form of overgeneralization. Instead of describing the error,you attach a negative label to yourself. You think of yourself as a loser instead of just admitting you made a mistake. 10. Personalization: You see yourself as the cause of some negative external event which you were not primarily responsible for.
I think even people who are not depressed can think this way. My two favorite quotes on this subject are:
You are today where your thoughts have brought you; you will be tomorrow where your thoughts take you. -James Lane Allen
When we think of balancing our lives, we think of work, family and relationships. But we cannot balance these until we find an internal balance of who we are and what we want out of life. -Anne Wilson Schef, Ph.D.
So, don't wait to find the help, all the knowledge in the universe is in books. It may be difficult to decide to change your thinking and take responsibility for each thought, but the rewards are so great. You can do this! I also highly recommend looking up the SAM-e book I reviewed. It has some very practical steps to follow and some great ideas. I list some of them in the review.
~The Rebecca Review
Summary of Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy
The good news is that anxiety, guilt, pessimism, procrastination, low self-esteem, and other "black holes" of depression can be cured without drugs. In Feeling Good, eminent psychiatrist, David D. Burns, M.D., outlines the remarkable, scientifically proven techniques that will immediately lift your spirits and help you develop a positive outlook on life. Now, in this updated edition, Dr. Burns adds an All-New Consumer?s Guide To Anti-depressant Drugs as well as a new introduction to help answer your questions about the many options available for treating depression.- Recognise what causes your mood swings
- Nip negative feelings in the bud
- Deal with guilt
- Handle hostility and criticism
- Overcome addiction to love and approval
- Build self-esteem
- Feel good everyday
Self-Esteem Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Self-Esteem Books
New Work Opportunities for Older Americansby Robert S. Menchin
iUniverse; Published: 2000-07-27; Paperback; Book
Best price: $18.80
Price in other shops:
Emotional Resilience: Simple Truths for Dealing with the Unfinished Business of Your Pastby David Viscott M.D.
Three Rivers Press; Published: 1996-04-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.10
Price in other shops:
Friendships, Secrets & Liesby Babs H. Deal
Fawcett; Published: 1980-10-12; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $14.75
Lucky Every Day: 20 Unforgettable Lessons from a Coach Who Made a Differenceby Chip Silverman
Warner Books; Published: 2004-04-14; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $14.59
Price in other shops:
The Joy of Doing Things Badly: A Girl's Guide to Love, Life and Foolish Braveryby Veronica Chambers
Broadway; Published: 2006-04-04; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.62
Price in other shops:
Color Me Beautifulby Carole Jackson
Ballantine Books; Published: 1981-03-12; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.28
Price in other shops:
Unlimited: How to Build an Exceptional Lifeby Jillian Michaels
Crown Archetype; Published: 2011-04-05; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $13.77
Price in other shops:
Positively You!: Change Your Thinking, Change Your Lifeby Jinger Heath
Golden Books Pub Co (Adult); Published: 1998-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $0.75
Price in other shops:
Hidden Power: How to Unleash the Power of Your Subconscious Mindby James K. Van Fleet
Prentice Hall; Published: 1987-12; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $3.51
Price in other shops:
Compassion & Self Hateby Theodore isaac Rubin
Scribner Paper Fiction; Published: 1986-04-29; Paperback; Book
Best price: $19.94
Similar Books and other products
The Anxiety and Phobia Workbookby Edmund J. Bourne PhD
New Harbinger Publications; Published: 2011-01-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $15.17
Price in other shops:
The Cognitive Behavioral Workbook for Depression: A Step-by-step Program (Workbook)by Bill Knaus Ed.D.
New Harbinger Publications; Published: 2006-11-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $15.78
Price in other shops:
A New Guide to Rational Livingby Albert Ellis, Robert A. Harper
Wilshire Book Co; Published: 1975-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.90
Price in other shops:
Intimate Connectionsby David D. Burns
Signet; Published: 1985-11-05; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.24
Price in other shops:
Feeling Good Together: The Secret to Making Troubled Relationships Workby David D. Burns M.D.
Three Rivers Press; Published: 2010-01-26; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.91
Price in other shops:
Ten Days to Self-Esteemby David D. Burns
William Morrow Paperbacks; Published: 1999-03-17; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.89
Price in other shops:
Mind Over Mood: Change How You Feel by Changing the Way You Thinkby Dennis Greenberger, Christine Padesky
The Guilford Press; Published: 1995-03-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $15.32
Price in other shops:
When Panic Attacks: The New, Drug-Free Anxiety Therapy That Can Change Your Lifeby David D. Burns M.D.
Three Rivers Press; Published: 2007-06-12; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.10
Price in other shops:
Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapyby David D. Burns
William Morrow Paperbacks; Published: 1999-04-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.05
Price in other shops:
The Feeling Good Handbookby David D. Burns
Plume; Published: 1999-05-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $12.88
Price in other shops: