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4.05 AVERAGE
4.05 AVERAGE
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Wow wow wow. It took me a long time to get through this book, but it is without a doubt the single best resource I’ve found on mental health, mindset, our perceptions versus reality, establishing value in our selves, our work, and our relationships, and in overall well-beingness. This is the one book I’m going to end up recommending to anyone dealing with a rut in life.
This isn’t some self-help quackery.
This isn’t some self-help quackery.
Burns offers great insight on the struggles of those suffering from mental health problems. If you are in said group, you may frequently find yourself saying “That’s exactly how I feel!”, or something similar. Burns goes through possible solutions, albeit not particularly groundbreaking solutions, to mental problems in a clear and straightforward manner. I use a few of the strategies discussed in this book daily and I would recommend it to anyone struggling with anxiety, depression, or other mental health problems.
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Enjoyed this much more than expected. Purchased the updated “sequel,” Feeling Great, to have a physical copy where I hope to apply some of the techniques.
My mother got this book to deal with her anxiety, so I was curious and read it. For the most part, I think it's pretty silly, but it did teach me an important thing-- that everyone has control over their own emotional and psycological well-being. We're brought up to believe that mental illness is just that- an illness, completely out of our control.
But, not to denigrate anyone with mental illness, a great deal of it IS under our control- and that continuing to tell people that they have no control will contribute to their problems. Cognitive behavioral therapy won't work for everyone, but I think it's a very helpful approach which should definitely play a prominent role in psychology's extensive repetoire.
But, not to denigrate anyone with mental illness, a great deal of it IS under our control- and that continuing to tell people that they have no control will contribute to their problems. Cognitive behavioral therapy won't work for everyone, but I think it's a very helpful approach which should definitely play a prominent role in psychology's extensive repetoire.
I thought there was something I could change about myself (some bad moods? some flat days? occasional blues? stress and anger? lack of resilience? loneliness?) but I didn’t know what it was, exactly. Anyway. My sister randomly left this old book (1980 edition!) at my house and I started randomly reading it. As you do. And it made everything make *so much sense*.
I need to work on it, ongoing (it will take a long time to change my thinking), but I think this is going to be so very helpful to me. I learned a lot. I wish I read this book when my kids were babies because it's helped a lot with my parenting, too. I've learned what's at the root of negative emotions like frustration and anger, and how to change my thinking so that I don't experience those emotions most of the time (except for healthy anger).
I need to work on it, ongoing (it will take a long time to change my thinking), but I think this is going to be so very helpful to me. I learned a lot. I wish I read this book when my kids were babies because it's helped a lot with my parenting, too. I've learned what's at the root of negative emotions like frustration and anger, and how to change my thinking so that I don't experience those emotions most of the time (except for healthy anger).
I ended up reading the book after hearing multiple recommendations on various podcasts. A very eye-opening experience, with a plethora of methods for everyone to use in their daily life.
Ended up taking a lot of notes on this one, and I found the accompanying material excellent.
Ended up taking a lot of notes on this one, and I found the accompanying material excellent.
Ended up skimming through much of this. I picked it up because I wanted some tips on dealing with anxiety, but it mainly focused on depression. Plus while its focus on cognitive behavioral therapy might benefit some individuals with this illness, I found the writing style too tedious and the tone bordering on grating to embrace its advice.
This is a pretty good primer on cognitive behavioural techniques to combat depression, and there's a lot of useful material here in a format any layperson could use. Burns is extremely encouraging and matter-of-fact and, in some of the later chapters, also self-critical and open to other ideas. I read a later version of the book that I couldn't find on GR that is VERY LONG and has endless chapters at the end about anti-depressants, all their various side-effects and interactions, most of which is probably out of date now.
The core message is a good one: that through work and effort, we can take hold of some of worst thoughts and disrupt poisonous thinking patterns, and there's really good, constructive step-by-step instructions on how to do that, although way too many of the anecdotes about Burns' patients end with "and then her depression disappeared instantly," which is perhaps less helpful.
There's a notable absence of engagement with the material circumstances of people's lives, perhaps because mental health outcomes are definitely tied to that and there's nothing a therapist or great CBT can do about it. There's are some REALLY tone deaf anecdotes where he tries to skirt around these issues--one where a guy loses his job and becomes so depressed he can't look for a new one, to the point of suicidal ideation. Burns and cognitive behaviour therapy help him improve to the point where he can open a small book store, which is supposed to be the happy ending. There's a coda that the bookstore is unsuccessful, but the guy never gets to the point of wanting to kill himself again. Well done?
There's also SEVERAL tone deaf examples involving Jews persecuted by the Nazis--I have no idea why the author likes these, because there are no other real historical references in the book. The worst one involved not letting external criticism ruin your sense of self--like how some Jews during the Nazi era did not let rampant anti-Semitism touch their feelings about themselves, because they knew their value internally. He does not seem to compute that it doesn't matter what your self-esteem is like if you are later gassed to death. The whole section--only a paragraph or two, really--was very bizarre and troubling.
In short, this book was pretty useful but I believe there's a "notes and exercises" version floating around out there that would be way more useful and all the anecdotes and weird Burns-isms are trimmed out of that one. It would be good to get the info and do the exercises but not stay up at night wondering what that guy did after the bookstore...
The core message is a good one: that through work and effort, we can take hold of some of worst thoughts and disrupt poisonous thinking patterns, and there's really good, constructive step-by-step instructions on how to do that, although way too many of the anecdotes about Burns' patients end with "and then her depression disappeared instantly," which is perhaps less helpful.
There's a notable absence of engagement with the material circumstances of people's lives, perhaps because mental health outcomes are definitely tied to that and there's nothing a therapist or great CBT can do about it. There's are some REALLY tone deaf anecdotes where he tries to skirt around these issues--one where a guy loses his job and becomes so depressed he can't look for a new one, to the point of suicidal ideation. Burns and cognitive behaviour therapy help him improve to the point where he can open a small book store, which is supposed to be the happy ending. There's a coda that the bookstore is unsuccessful, but the guy never gets to the point of wanting to kill himself again. Well done?
There's also SEVERAL tone deaf examples involving Jews persecuted by the Nazis--I have no idea why the author likes these, because there are no other real historical references in the book. The worst one involved not letting external criticism ruin your sense of self--like how some Jews during the Nazi era did not let rampant anti-Semitism touch their feelings about themselves, because they knew their value internally. He does not seem to compute that it doesn't matter what your self-esteem is like if you are later gassed to death. The whole section--only a paragraph or two, really--was very bizarre and troubling.
In short, this book was pretty useful but I believe there's a "notes and exercises" version floating around out there that would be way more useful and all the anecdotes and weird Burns-isms are trimmed out of that one. It would be good to get the info and do the exercises but not stay up at night wondering what that guy did after the bookstore...