Customer Reviews

Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy

5 star:		(52)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

The title of my review is actually a summary of how this book plans to make you feel better.

The book is authored by a someone who has had a lot of experience using cognitive therapy techniques to try and improve people's depression. Cognitive therapy's premise is that your thinking (messages that you are giving yourself all day long) directly inflences your moods and how you feel. Therefore, if you are thinking negatively, you're going to feel that way. Likewise, if you think positive and optimistically, well, you're going to feel good!

And that's what the book is about- getting you to get rid of negative thoughts and replacing them with good ones. Does it work? Well, the book has been around since 1980, and there's actually been some good solid research that has actually taken the book, given it to depressed patients.....and they've improved!

With its easy writing style and research-backed techniques, Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy is definitely worth the read- just know you've got over 500+ pages ahead of you. If this seems too daunting, or this approach doesn't appeal to you, try something like Exercise Beats Depression- which has been shown to be just as effective as cognitive therapy or drugs in controlled trials. Good luck!

...This book is the "IT" book of psychiatry and
psychology. More psychiatrists recommend this book to their clients
than any other. It is also the bestselling book on psychology or
psychiatry that exists! Instead of writing another review on this
book, I decided to "Do It" so to speak. If this review can
help anybody, than it was worth the writing.

In the forward, Burns
talks in detail about a comprehensive study that was made on this
book. This is in the 1999 forward. Eighty people were given this book
to read in twenty-eight days. 70% recovered from a major depressive
episode from just reading this book in that time. The exercises were
optional. Before you order this book, Burns does stipulate that if you
have even had "moderate depression" for several weeks, than
you will need professional help in order to help you get through the
program. Also, any suicidal thoughts or tendencies. I am fortunate. I
took the BDC on page 20 and scored 58. Now, this is "severe
depression". The BDC is the "Burns Depression
Checklist". I have also been diagnosed as having a "Major
Depressive Disorder" by many psychiatrists. But I have help. Both
a therapist and a psychiatrist. So intead of just writing yet one more
review based on my opinions, why not do the program and pass on the
results? I e-mailed a daily report to my friend and follow Amazon.com
reviewer, Edgar Bridges. I began both reading and doing the exercises
on October 12th, 2000. I scored a 55 on the BDC one week after
starting the program. This is still "severe" depression. Two
weeks after starting, I got a 35 on the BDC!!! This is "moderate
depression". Yes. I was very happy. But more suprised than
happy. A little bit shocked. That is the good news. After the third
week, I scored a 54. Bad news. I finished the entire program yesterday
and I scored a 56. A 3% decrease in depression. I did the "triple
column" technique everyday for twenty-eight days straight. I did
two of the "anti-procrastination" techniques as well for 14
days. I had memorized the ten distortions entirely and used them daily
when they arose. So it failed. I am sorry to say. But it might work
for you. After going to only one Alcoholics Anonymous meeting during
this time, my score dropped the next day to 35! Then in several days,
it was back up again to "severe depression". Why? I took the
BDC everyday and examined the score for the days after I talked to
people and got outside and so forth. No decrease in the score. I can
only assume, and perhaps quite wrongly, that it is "human
intimacy" that did it. That's my review on this book. Based on
experience rather than conjecture.

This is the book that changed my life! Or I should say that "save my life"! Last year I was sure that I would end up with suicide and it was only a matter of time. My life was hanging with a thread. It was a result of a 10 year long depression. Then I was hospitalized. In the psychiatric hospital, someone told me about this book by Dr. David Burns, I bought it as soon as I checked out of the hospital. I have bought numurous selfhelp book, they were all cliches. None of them offered the powerful techniques and excercises like this book. The 12 mental errors it described in the books are really the reason contributing to depressed mood. This is a must read for anyone who wants to help themselves to get out of the depressed mood. I'm very grateful to Dr. Burns!

This book was a Godsend for me. I had struggled with depression,
anxiety,inferiority feelings,etc. for 23 years before I read this book. I had previously read a little bit of it, but that didn't do much good. I intellectually understand the principles of cognitive psychology, but it wasn't until I read the entire book, and read it with an open mind, that I felt some relief.

I've been to a lot of different psychiatrists,psychologists, etc. but nothing had ever done much for me. I've been on just about every Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor (SSRI), such as Prozac,Paxil,Zoloft, and Luvox, plus other types of psychiatric meds, but nothing ever did much, and a lot of them caused serious side effects.

It really helped me to read the introduction to the book. Why? Because Dr. Burns details all the scientific research that has been done that confirms the effectiveness of cognitive therapy, also known as cognitive behavioral therapy and rational-emotive behavior therapy.

The essence of cognitive psychology is that the painful emotions we feel are the result of our thoughts and attitudes about the events in our life. It's not that life events don't have any effect on us, but they don't have to overwhelm us or cause us to feel miserable. Some people will say, "But what about the biochemical aspect of emotions?" Dr. Burns devotes over 200 pages to psychiatric medication; after all, he is a psychiatrist, and he does prescribe medication for some of his patients, but he never gives them medication alone. People who are treated only with medication are more likely to relapse if they go off their medication.

This book was selected by mental health professionals as the number one self-help book, out of 1000 books. The followup to this book, The Feeling Good Handbook, was chosen as number two.

It's very likely that this book can help you, although Dr. Burns emphasizes that the book is not a substitute for a consultation with a mental health expert. You may be able to handle your problems just by reading the book (and doing the exercises), but don't hesitate to see a psychiatrist or therapist if you need help.

Some people make decisions according to how they think; their thoughts give rise to their feelings. Such people might like this book. More power to them. For me and for many others, it is the other way around: feelings give rise to thoughts. In order for "feelers" to overcome problems, we need empathy. Being told we're thinking the wrong way just exacerbates the feeling of being wrong. Also, like other reviewers, I found that the book seemed unedited, rambling, and repetitive. I'm glad some have found it beneficial. I benefit more from dealing with feelings before thoughts.

There are a lot of self-help books around, but this is one of the few (if not the only one) that has actually been subject to multiple clinical trials, and found to be as effective as (or slightly better than) medication for mild-to-severe depression.

The author is a psychiatrist and prominent university researcher who worked together with Aaron Beck, the originator of cognitive therapy. This is not your average B.S. self-help book, even if the cover looks cheesy.

The one caveat is that the book treats only cognitive therapy, not cognitive-behavioural. If you're dealing with anxiety as well as depression, behavioural techniques (like exposure) can also be very helpful. Try Overcoming Anxiety For Dummies for a broader overview of Cognitive and Behavioural techniques on the anxiety side.

As a consumer of mental health services and the related books, I think I have read most of what is available. Undoing Depression is clearly the best, followed by Breaking the Patterns of Depression. Feeling Good has been helpful in keeping me on track after the others have reached through the fog that envelops my control panels. As my wife put it, it's like the recipes you can use after you first decide you want to cook something and have secured the necessary ingredients.

I thought this book was beyond exellent! I have to agree with another reviewer aswell that you can read it over and over again.
There is so much information and knowledge in this book that it does take some time to read, to beable to 'soak it all in' and to start applying it into your life, but it WILL change you and your thinking forever.
It is one of the best you will ever get your hands on!

I'd seen this book before. I'd browsed through it back in 1991 and didn't find anything profound, but I wasn't seriously depressed at the time either. In June 2001 it was a different story. I'd been feeling suicidal since April. I was away from home on business and considered ending it all in a Minneapolis hotel room, but didn't want my wife have the hassle of shipping my body 1,000 miles back home.

I forced myself to take a walk and saw "Feeling Good" in a nearby bookstore. "What the hell," I thought, "for less than $10 this is worth a try." Back in my hotel room I took the depression test and scored 64 - severe depression. I read much of the book that night, took the self-test again the next day and scored in the 40s. With a 20 point drop in less than 24 hours, I again had hope. I got home, got counseling, got medication.

Although I was still depressed, it was less severe and I wasn't as suicidal. In July of 2001 I bought "Ten Days to Self Esteem" and went from a depression score of 25 to 17 in ten days of doing the written exercises everyday. It took about 9 months but with exercise, meds, counseling, support from friends and family, and the perspective offered by the events of that September 11, I started getting scores showing very little depression, much less anxiety and better relationships. Burns' approach has been an important part of that process for me.

This book is full of good information, but I found it a little over whelming. I have been hospitalized for depression and I found it hard to stay interested. It was also difficult to follow & confusing. Unfortunately, when you are clinically depressed you don't have the energy or drive to work with all that is presented to you in this book.

I would recommend this book for the mildly depressed, or someone who is already overcoming depression.