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chriselliott's review against another edition
5.0
A great book on self-analysis that helps you identify and rebutt negative and irrational thoughts, anger, and anxiety inducing beliefs. Tons of exercises within. It took me a month to read this one because I stopped at every exercise (there are dozens) and did each in a composition book as I progressed through the book, then I stopped reading for the day to let the material/exercises sink in. I think this is probably the best way to get the most from the book. It's a touch over 700 pages. I will now be moving on to his Feeling Good Handbook, which is also 700 pages with even more exercises, and then to his newest book, Feeling Great. It is not surprising that this is the number one book psychiatrists and psychologists recommend to their patients.
mgsingfiel_99's review against another edition
The book has really good CBT material. But it is so slow and dense that it’s really hard to enjoy.
vibeke_hiatt's review against another edition
4.0
This book helped me more than I could have imagined. Dr. Burns' exercises are easy to do and worth the effort. I found that I was able to adapt them for my own needs. His insights into depression and cognitive addictions really opened my eyes and changed the way I see myself.
alephalephnull's review against another edition
Incredibly good self-help book! I'd rate 4.75 if I could. A very good therapist is probably better if you're struggling -- but I believe this book is better than most therapists if you use it well. (I also appreciated hearing Dr. Burns on podcasts giving examples of his technique; hearing it in his voice was useful.)
(Marked "DNF" only because I wasn't interested in the later sections on, and I didn't want to miscount my # of pages read on Storygraph)
(Marked "DNF" only because I wasn't interested in the later sections on, and I didn't want to miscount my # of pages read on Storygraph)
serru's review against another edition
3.0
A lot of good analysis on the thoughts and behaviours of depressed people. This book not only explains what happens to you and your thoughts when you're depressed and what to do about it but it also discusses how to prevent depression from re-occurring once you've gotten better. I like to review various parts of this book whenever I feel mildly depressed so I can remember what is happening to me and what I can do about it instead of just sitting around and feeling bad.
There are a lot of (somewhat lengthy) writing exercises that can be used to get going in your daily life. I tried a few of the exercises and while they did motivate me to work for the most part, I felt that a seriously depressed person would probably find them far too much effort to do, and would likely not do them at all. But I guess that's what most of the struggle is: doing something-- anything-- instead of nothing is the most difficult for those who are depressed. While this book offers various techniques to get going, it is ultimately up to yourself to try them out.
List of cognitive distortions:
2) Over-generalization: You view a negative event as a never-ending pattern of defeat.
3) mental filter: You dwell on the negatives and ignore the positives.
4) Discounting the positives: You insist that your positives don't "count."
5) Jumping to conclusions: (a) Mind-reading--you assume that people are reacting negatively to you when there's no definite evidence for this; (b) Fortune-telling--you arbitrarily predict that things will turn out badly.
6) Magnification or minimization: You blow things way out of proportion or you shrink their importance inappropriately.
7) Emotional reasoning: You reason from how you feel--ex. "I feel like an idiot, so I really must be one," "I don't feel like doing this, so I'll put it off."
8) Should statements: You criticize yourself or others with should's, shouldn't's, must's, ought's, and have to's.
9) Labeling: You identify with your shortcomings; instead of telling yourself, "I made a mistake," you tell yourself, "I'm a jerk, a fool, a loser."
10) Personalization and blame: You blame yourself for something you weren't entirely responsible for, or you blame other people and overlook ways that your own attitudes and behaviors contribute to a problem.
There are a lot of (somewhat lengthy) writing exercises that can be used to get going in your daily life. I tried a few of the exercises and while they did motivate me to work for the most part, I felt that a seriously depressed person would probably find them far too much effort to do, and would likely not do them at all. But I guess that's what most of the struggle is: doing something-- anything-- instead of nothing is the most difficult for those who are depressed. While this book offers various techniques to get going, it is ultimately up to yourself to try them out.
List of cognitive distortions:
Spoiler
1) All-or-nothing thinking: You look at things in absolute, black-and-white categories.2) Over-generalization: You view a negative event as a never-ending pattern of defeat.
3) mental filter: You dwell on the negatives and ignore the positives.
4) Discounting the positives: You insist that your positives don't "count."
5) Jumping to conclusions: (a) Mind-reading--you assume that people are reacting negatively to you when there's no definite evidence for this; (b) Fortune-telling--you arbitrarily predict that things will turn out badly.
6) Magnification or minimization: You blow things way out of proportion or you shrink their importance inappropriately.
7) Emotional reasoning: You reason from how you feel--ex. "I feel like an idiot, so I really must be one," "I don't feel like doing this, so I'll put it off."
8) Should statements: You criticize yourself or others with should's, shouldn't's, must's, ought's, and have to's.
9) Labeling: You identify with your shortcomings; instead of telling yourself, "I made a mistake," you tell yourself, "I'm a jerk, a fool, a loser."
10) Personalization and blame: You blame yourself for something you weren't entirely responsible for, or you blame other people and overlook ways that your own attitudes and behaviors contribute to a problem.
brandonjbudd's review against another edition
4.0
Probably worth rereading, though the final section on medication is somewhat outdated and skippable. The exercises and techniques therein seem worth revisiting though.
marciavanbel's review against another edition
4.0
Ok, I didn't really read *all* of it, since the last chapters are about anti-depressants, and though I still managed to wrestle through a lot of that, in the end I didn't feel like reading through side-effects of specific drugs anymore. To be honest, it seems like an overkill to add all that info to this book, and it annoys me that because of that I won't *really* finish it. (:
Aside from that though, there are some very valuable lessons and (practical) exercises in this book. Most of it reads easily, there are some nice examples and a lot of scientific explanations to back things up.
Aside from that though, there are some very valuable lessons and (practical) exercises in this book. Most of it reads easily, there are some nice examples and a lot of scientific explanations to back things up.