Customer Reviews

You Can Feel Good Again: Common-Sense Strategies for Releasing Unhappiness and Changing Your Life

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Dr Carlson has written many self-help books aimed at helping us to find the stable state of happiness that naturally exists within us all. He has now written this book specifically for those of us who suffer from depression. The book contains practical truths that are so obvious that most of us miss them or at least bypass them in the rush of our everyday lives. If you are suffering from depression this book will help immensely. Richard Carlson will show you how your state of depression is as much perpetuated by your own thinking as it is by any chemical imbalance that may or may not exist. I have read this book at the same time as receiving treatment with an SSRI anti-depressant (Cipralex). While I am unsure if the SSRI has benefited me at all after 6 weeks, I am certain that this book has changed my outlook completely after two weeks and that it continues to do so more and more with each re-reading. If I allow myself to slip back into my old ways of thinking, the severity of my depression rapidly returns. The good news is that it just as rapidly alleviates when I get back on track with my thinking. The book is simple to read and may seem repetitious. However, if you are one of Dr Carlson's target audience of sufferers from depression you should read this book and keep on re-reading it. You will find that on each re-reading something will leap out at you with greater meaning than it did before. I have highlighted many sentences so that I can rapidly re-read them, and have noted down the keywords on the title page. This way I can pull myself back on track quickly. The approach takes some work to put into practice but there is nothing as hard work as being in a depressed state. The hard work, by the way, is only in terms of changing your habitual modes of thinking, it does not involve making lists and analysing things as do many cognitive (i.e. thinking) approaches such as that found in Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy by David Burns. I have found Dr Burns's book to be of some use also, mainly because it has helped me to identify particular types of cognitive distortion that help perpetuate depressive illness. This enables me to more accurately recognise when I should dismiss my thoughts, as Dr Carlson recommends in his approach. If you are depressed, low, angry, resentful, dissatisfied, unfulfilled, stressed, hurried, fearful or just not happy most of the time then read this book and keep re-reading it. I only wish this book had been available when I was aged twenty rather than forty.

This is a life changing book. It shows how our thoughts create our perception of life. Our perception of life is our experience of life. It doesn't go overboard and claim their is no objective reality outside our thoughts, as some new age teachings do. However, it does say that it's not the circumstances of our lives, but our reactions to them. It does repeat it's central ideas several times, but sometimes it takes a while for something to sink in. I really liked the chapter on wisdom. My only problem with this book is the subtitle, because I read this book when I wasn't depressed and still got tons out of it. It could be read by anyone who wants to think optimally and discover happiness in life. I am only writing this review, because I have the hope that someone might read it and get solid info about living a better life. Carlson is influenced in his writing by a school of psychology called Psychology of Mind. Psychology of Mind is based on the concepts originally presented by Sydney Banks. I think this is the most clearly written of the Psychology of Mind books. However, if you read this book and like it I would reccomend any of the books from the Psychology of Mind authors (e.g Wisdom Within by Roger Mills, Divorce Is Not The Answer by George Pransky). Also check out Sydney Banks website and books.

Never has something I've read had such an impact on my life as this book has. In fact, I would never have imagined that a book could have this much impact on my life!

Never has something I've read had such an impact on my life as this book has. In fact, I would never have imagined that a book could have this much impact on my life!

This book is infused with a pure and powerful light that is hard to explain. The ideas are simple, and they really work! I discovered this book in the mid-nineties, and for a period of about 3 years it saved me over and over again - each time I opened it up.

One basic premise of this book is, 'Your thoughts aren't real'. That is, they are real THOUGHTS, and real things do happen - but much of the negative content of our minds is like a goblin trying to scare you (except he doesn't say "goblin").

He helps you to distinguish the times when your entire thought process ITSELF has become destructive & to understand how THAT is not real. It is a nightmarish illusion, and the wisest action you can take is to see through it, not believe it, not let it scare you.

Once you are in a generally healthy state of mind, your thoughts will be authentic and trustworthy even if you are thinking about difficulties. Don't worry, whatever real problems you have will still be there once you are in a healthy state of mind - and THAT'S when you should deal with them. Don't try to think through/analyze your problems when you are in a destructive state of mind, you'll only make things worse. Happy people know this instinctively, he says - but people who are unhappy can be taught this basic habit very easily.

Carlson guides you through this and other powerful truths in a way that you can genuinely follow both emotionally and mentally.

He is not pushy, but as you read his concepts they ring true each time. This book is suprisingly profound - and it challenges certain limiting notions of traditional psychotherapy in a very compassionate way.

Along with this book, I also recommend the writings of Florence Scovel Shinn: The Power of the Word and The Game of Life. Her core message is very similar to Carlson's, but she was a mystic who wrote in the early part of the 20th century.

This is a good companion book to his "Happiness" book. My favourites are:

Our Thoughts - our thoughts are ingrained in us, through our childhood and adult experiences. We are constantly thinking. Understand that our thoughts are simply thoughts and nothing more. More importantly, our thoughts are not real! Like a river of floating leaves, our mind carries both bad and good thoughts, but as the primary "thinker" we decide which thoughts to carry.

Depressed or unhappy people carry too many unhappy thoughts. We must learn to understand, experience, and more importantly dismiss thoughts when necessary.

Don't overanalyze your thoughts, or as Carlson puts it analysis paralysis. Remember thoughts can't hurt you.

Present moment living - there is no yesterday or tomorrow, your happiness is grounded by living in the present moment.
These and many others are sound principles of living, well worth the short read.

Is it that simple? Our thoughts.. our thoughts...

After a bad break-up, when I was stuck in the "I-Can't-stop-thinking-about-him" mindset, I picked up this book. After 3 months of crying, this book was like a breath of fresh air. It makes complete sense and helped me find my smile again. Now it does sort of say the same thing about 9 different ways, but this is why it works! It really works and must be read cover to cover. I've even bought this book for friends when they were low. I still use the ideas from this book everyday, and haven't lost my smile since.

An excellent, believable book on managing yourself out of depression. You won't have to slap everyone who says "Cheer up!" This is the book I reccommend to people who want to DO something about being in the black pit of depression.

I have read all the other reviews. They are right on target; essentially this is a 5+ star book. However, like nearly all self-help books, the author repeats and repeats and repeats simple concepts (new maybe, revolutionary to the field, perhaps, but simple to understand).

The basic premise is that one's thinking when it is askew gets one into trouble with depression, etc. Simple, true, great explantions, but the book could clearly have been half the size.

The case studies are informative and break the monotony.

I highly recommend this book, but you can skip through most of it, and more importantly start practicing the principles.

This book is very helpful for anyone suffering from depression, anxiety, panic and/or worry. The principles are easy to understand, and though simplistic, really work. For anyone with the above emotional problems, this is a "must have" for your personal library.