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Summary: A book for just about everyone
Review: Anyone that's ever hit a "rough patch" in life or knows someone that has, would benefit from reading this book. It focuses on the way we reinforce negative feelings in ourselves and provides practical ways of breaking the habit. Its upbeat "self help" tone wasn't much to my own liking, but its "cognitive" approach is scientifically respectable and actually works, even if you don't do all of the recommended exercises. It makes me feel good just to re-read chapters. The medication section at the end is very outdated.
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Summary: Gives people hope
Review: As a social worker who has helped those face depression, and as a person who has faced depressive episodes as well, I found this book very helpful and applicable to the challenges faced by being human. It gives the reader hope that things can change and that other people face the same types of problems in their everyday lives. The aspect I most appreciated about the book was that David Burns communicates to the reader compassion and that we can learn how to love and value ourselves.
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Summary: Excellent practical advice!
Review: Because I suffer from bipolar disorder (manic-depression), I have been looking for a something that can help me in some way. Most self-help type books have not helped me. This is the first book that really enabled me to see some light. It has excellent practical advice regarding how to manage your emotions by behaving and thinking in new ways. It takes you through the process step by step and can be understood by ordinary people like myself without rereading it five times. After benefiting from reading this book for a while, I became curious of why this type of thing works so well for my depression. After a long search, I discovered a book called "The Ever-Transcending Spirit" by Toru Sato that explained this beautifully. Sato's book is more theoretical but it is full of truly amazing insights that I can understand. I feel that it is a true blessing to have people like this share their insights and knowledge to the rest of the world.
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Summary: This is the Workbook that accompanies the Feeling Good Book
Review: Don't buy one without the other. This excellent workbook provides strategies on how to identify and eliminate the thoughts that lead to depression.
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Summary: This book teaches us a powerful method to feel happy.
Review: Dr. Burn's, let me thank you from the depths of my heart for writing such a jewel of a book. It is worth a million dollars.Friends, this book puts in our hands a simple, powerful, fast-acting, and long-lasting formula to feel good about ourselves. The formula is that it is our thoughts that cause our emotions. Our negative emotions (sadness, anger, etc.) are most often caused by our distorted thoughts. The trick to being happy most of the time is to replace those distorted thoughts with more realistic ones. This books clearly explains what thought variables cause what emotions. It also teaches us how to replace those distorted thoughts with more realistic ones. This book encompasses his earlier best-seller "Feeling Good" and goes beyond it by applying the mood therapy to an entire range of everyday problems. I have never before felt so good about myself. People have actually remarked that I have glow about me. Friends, you should not only buy this book for yourself but should buy an extra one for a good friend. Your buddy from NYC
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Summary: Great Tool in the Battle Against Mental Ilness
Review: Dr. Burns does a good job of simplifying the often confusing world of cognitive therapy. His approach is both effective and practical. Further, he includes a valuable section on antidepressants and antianxiety agents, which are often used--and with great efficacy--in conjuction with cognitive therapy. The proper medication(s) and dedicated work by the patient in DOING THE WRITTEN EXERCISES in this book will greatly benefit anyone suffering from depression and/or anxiety. I highly recommend the book. (I gave it four stars instead of five because it is slightly out of date; a revised 2005 edition would be very welcome.)
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Summary: Help for the less fortunate
Review: Excellent book. Cognitive therapy gave me much insight!
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Summary: Great book for self-introspection and growth
Review: For persons who want to learn to get control over their emotions and better respond to the world around them, this book would be excellent. It gives practical real world examples of circumstances that people encounter in every day life. It helps you examine the way that you respond to things both mentally and emotionally. Great book for self-introspection and growth.
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Summary: I felt good about this book.
Review: Good job, David Burns on a great book. I studied and referred back to it on occasion, with good results. That's amazing since my depression has been very resistant to medication. I later recommended it to my lovely fiancee, and she liked it too. We both are feeling much better, thanks to Feeling Good. If the voices in your head tell you to buy the book, maybe you need medication, but if you're depressed, try this first!
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Summary: Genuinely useful
Review: I bought this book a few years ago and find myself visiting this page at Amazon because I want to recommend it to a friend and find that my own copy is out on loan to someone else! There are so many self-help books on the market that I tend to be wary of them, but I found this one genuinely helpful at a time when practical help was really needed. Dr Burns says it very clearly himself - you have to do the exercises to get the benefit, because this sort of approach is all about getting intimate with the thoughts in your own head. The book does give theoretical explanations, but fundamentally it's a practical tool to help you to get inside your own head and change what's going on there. Dr Burns' approach is about challenging your own negative thoughts, which some people might say you don't need a book and exercises to do. I can only say that when I was deeply depressed it was exactly what I did need - someone to take me gently but firmly by the hand and lead me through my own head in order that I could get through the paralysis and begin functioning again. Dr Burns includes a depression rating test which enables you to monitor your own progress. I found that this had 2 applications - firstly it helped me to take my own depression seriously, and secondly it encouraged me to keep going as I could see the results of Dr Burns' approach on a daily basis. A lot of people don't like being told what to do, especially when it comes to dealing with their own problems. This book does require that you come at it with an open mind and are willing to be guided to some extent, and are willing to be honest about what's really going on with you. The exercises are deceptively easy and for this reason I can see that some people might be dismissive of the approach. On the plus side you can hit the exercises absolutely at your own level - you don't have to tackle everything all at once. Start with the 'little' things if that's where you're at (motivating yourself to eat lunch, for instance). No-one else can tell you exactly why you're depressed and what's going to make it change for you. This book is for people who really want to feel better and are willing to make an effort on their own behalf but want to do it at their own pace and not feel bullied. It isn't easy to come through depression - it's paralysing by nature. This book can't do it for you, but it can be a companion through it. I still do refer to this book and use the exercises when I get stuck (it also includes a fantastic section on procrastination which I would recommend to anyone, depressed or not!) I also want to add, though, that at the time that I was first using the book I was also taking anti-depressant medication - without that I wouldn't have been able to even pick up a book like this, never mind work with it! It's not the same for everyone, but don't beat yourself up if you need the medication too.
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