8 ms·

Someone here recommended David Burns' "The Feeling Good Handbook" and it was a very, very good read. I'm not going to say it turned my life around, but it taugh

Someone here recommended David Burns' "The Feeling Good Handbook" and it was a very, very good read. I'm not going to say it turned my life around, but it taught me how to spot and disarm all kinds of cognitive distortions, defeat laziness, better align my expectations of others, assess my self worth positively... It's also well written, fast paced, and sometimes even funny. It includes lots of exercises that are practical and easy to do.

Trasmatta 7y ago
As far as I'm concerned, this (and its predecessor, "Feeling Good") is the best self help book ever written. It's helped me tremendously with moderate depression and anxiety. For anyone suffering, I'd highly recommend just giving the book and its exercises a try.
- rednerrus 7y ago
  thework.com is along the same lines and also very good.
starpilot 7y ago
I found Feeling Good to be stimulating while reading it but impossible to put into practice. Filling out worksheets of your emotions everyday is exhausting. The anecdotes of nearly instantaneous recoveries were unrealistic, and I've since read that therapists generally notice changes in their patients over years. The SSC take on therapy books strongly applies: https://slatestarcodex.com/2019/11/20/book-review-all-therapy-books/ https://slatestarcodex.com/2019/11/20/book-review-all-therap... > In a few hundred patients I’ve worked with, zero have had the sudden, extraordinary, long-lasting change that the therapy books promise. Many have benefited a little. A few would say that, over the course of years, their lives have been turned around. But sudden complete transformations? Not that much.
downerending 7y ago
I also really enjoyed this book, and he comes off as a really decent human being. Not sure how much of it has stuck, but one thing that did is the idea that my enjoyment/satisfaction of doing something is often far greater in retrospect than in prospect. There is some thought, though, that the "cognitive" part of CBT isn't actually what matters. The line of thought is that the initial studies did both the cognitive and the behavioral, but that it was the behavioral part that produced more or less the entire result. It'll probably never be seriously studied further, since CBT is so popular, but it does suggest one core piece of advice: Doing something, almost anything, will probably make you feel better. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behavioral_activation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behavioral_activation Beyond that, someone suggested that simply accepting that depression will always be with you can help. It seems to have for me.
flycaliguy 7y ago
Crazy thing about this book is I was so depressed I could only read the first chapter or so. And it still changed my life in the end and I live by that first chapter.

Trasmatta 7y ago

As far as I'm concerned, this (and its predecessor, "Feeling Good") is the best self help book ever written. It's helped me tremendously with moderate depression and anxiety. For anyone suffering, I'd highly recommend just giving the book and its exercises a try.

rednerrus 7y ago
thework.com is along the same lines and also very good.

starpilot 7y ago

I found Feeling Good to be stimulating while reading it but impossible to put into practice. Filling out worksheets of your emotions everyday is exhausting. The anecdotes of nearly instantaneous recoveries were unrealistic, and I've since read that therapists generally notice changes in their patients over years. The SSC take on therapy books strongly applies: https://slatestarcodex.com/2019/11/20/book-review-all-therapy-books/ https://slatestarcodex.com/2019/11/20/book-review-all-therap... > In a few hundred patients I’ve worked with, zero have had the sudden, extraordinary, long-lasting change that the therapy books promise. Many have benefited a little. A few would say that, over the course of years, their lives have been turned around. But sudden complete transformations? Not that much.

downerending 7y ago

I also really enjoyed this book, and he comes off as a really decent human being. Not sure how much of it has stuck, but one thing that did is the idea that my enjoyment/satisfaction of doing something is often far greater in retrospect than in prospect. There is some thought, though, that the "cognitive" part of CBT isn't actually what matters. The line of thought is that the initial studies did both the cognitive and the behavioral, but that it was the behavioral part that produced more or less the entire result. It'll probably never be seriously studied further, since CBT is so popular, but it does suggest one core piece of advice: Doing something, almost anything, will probably make you feel better. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behavioral_activation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behavioral_activation Beyond that, someone suggested that simply accepting that depression will always be with you can help. It seems to have for me.

flycaliguy 7y ago

Crazy thing about this book is I was so depressed I could only read the first chapter or so. And it still changed my life in the end and I live by that first chapter.