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243 of 254 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
20 years later-no new cognitive distortions have been found, May 20, 2006
It probably sounds somewhat dramatic, but I can only recall two self-help books that had a drastic effect on my life-by giving me a reasonable relief from anxiety and depression. The first one, Mind over Mood, by Greenberger and the second one, Feeling Good Workbook by Dr. Burns. Both of these books are based on solid research, reason and practicality.
Almost 20 years since his workbook, Dr. Burns has finally written another book. To my disappointment and relief, it looks like he has nothing major to report. The good news is that after all these years of cognitive therapy evolution, there are still only 10 types of cognitive distortions. The bad news is that it takes only 10 to manage a perfect job to make you miserable.
Cognitive therapy is based on the premise that our own automatic and often unnoticed thoughts WITHIN us, not the events that happen TO US, scare us to death which in turn create a warped reality providing fertile soil for depression, anxiety, self-doubt, loneliness, and procrastination. Virtually everyone who is depressed or anxious is at mercy of these distorted thoughts. To get a relief, each distorted thought must be noticed and dealt with. As you can't relieve your hunger by just reading a cookbook, you must apply it to your own situation for at least 15 minutes a day 5 days a week. Once learned and practiced, the technique will offer you resilience to life's day-to-day challenges, unlike the antidepressants where the relief exists only while you take them.
Burns lists various applications to become aware, challenge and rewire your thought pattern and beliefs about yourself and the world. There is no magic, no parent-blaming, just common sense stuff dealing with the here-and-now.
What is so valuable here is his clear writing, convincing arguments, along with the examples of application that anyone can find an immediate use.
What sets this book apart from other self-help books is that it's packaged into a system one can use in a consistent way. Moreover, the improvements one feels can actually be measured with various tests that Burns provides. Once I saw it worked after many years of doom and suffering, I refocused and dared to feel hopeful. This added to my feeling good.
If I were to find faults with this book, I'd say this: in all honesty, there really was no need for this book at all. True, in this book he struggles to find some new ways to tackle problems to justify the new edition, and true, there is some fine-tuning of the previous methods, however, non-essential ones. In my opinion, Feeling Good Workbook is so effective, it has all you'll ever need, which is enough to make a substantial change.
In the end, each Burn's book can stand on its own, and will do a perfect job to diminish panic, depression and anxiety.
Even though the system sounds simplistic, its power lies in consistency of application-easier said than done for the depressed and unmotivated-but it does become easier if you find it within yourself to stick with it.
If this is pretty much the same book as the one written 20 years ago, why am I giving it 5 stars? It's very simple: If you are a person whose life has been robbed of feeling good for decades, any of Dr. Burns' books = be it this one or the ones published 20 years ago-offers a real tool for change. And this fact alone, deserves all the stars in the skies.
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94 of 98 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Outstanding book not just for FEELING BETTER, but GETTING BETTER!, February 1, 2007
Dr. Burns incorporates the last 25 years of research and clinical developments since writing the best-seller FEELING GOOD (strongly recommended as well.) He has written a book which markedly refines and elaborates on FEELING GOOD, rendering the Cognitive Therapy approach found in FEELING GOOD even more effective for quick and long-term relief from distressing emotional conditions, including depression, anxiety, anger, and low-self esteem.
In case you don't know, the book FEELING GOOD has been clinically proven to relieve major depression JUST FROM READING IT and following its instructions. I am confident that a clinical trial on WHEN PANIC ATTACKS would yield similar results for individuals suffering from anxiety disorders. The new book is very readable and far more versatile, and addresses some of the implicit gaps left from the former book.
WHEN PANIC ATTACKS easily stands on its own, and doesn't just address panic attacks, but rather every conceivable type of anxiety, including chronic worrying, phobias, agoraphobia, shyness, public speaking anxiety, writer's block, procrastination, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and Body Dysmorphic Disorder. As far as I am concerned, Dr. Burns should win a Nobel Prize for what he has accomplished here. Beginning with the "Daily Mood Log" --a sophisticated yet elegantly simple worksheet for documenting and combating one's emotional pain-- he has developed a veritable "technology" for overcoming even the most disabling of human emotions.
Why do we suffer? We suffer because we hold onto some core self-defeating beliefs (SDB's) that leave us rather vulnerable to painful mood swings. Accordingly, he identifies 23 common SDB's. Many of these SDB's (such as Achievement Addiction, Approval Addiction, Fear of Rejection, Conflict Phobia, and Emotophobia) are far more widespread than even the common cold! All of our emotional suffering can be traced back to the SDB's that are always there, lurking somewhat hidden beneath our suffering, until we take the courageous and pro-active step to identify and revise them. He then provides 40 ways to "untwist" your thinking, divided into 15 types of methods. These types of techniques include Uncovering Techniques, Compassion-Based Techniques, Truth-Based Techniques, Semantic Techniques, Logic-Based, Quantitative Techniques, Humor-Based Techniques, Role-Playing Techniques, Spiritual Techniques, Motivational Techniques, Anti-Procrastination Techniques, Classical, Cognitive, and Interpersonal Exposure Techniques, and last but not least, the Hidden Emotion Model.
He additionally shows you how to select the techniques that will work best for YOU, and the whole trial-and-error process is easily recorded onto another handy-dandy worksheet! By encouraging you to "fail as fast as you can" (a brilliant concept in its own right!), he clearly demonstrates how anyone who is serious about their mental health and overall well-being can overcome even deep-seated emotional problems, and thereby attain robust self-esteem. He even provides specific and simple methods for "relapse prevention," because, as he states, EVERYONE relapses! Surely there's a BIG difference between FEELING better and GETTING better.
Because Thoreau was correct when he said, "The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation," I think it would be a tragedy to limit this book to those with mental health diagnoses. In fact, I cannot think of a single individual who would not be significantly helped by the information contained in this book. ********** 10 Stars on a scale of 5!
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49 of 49 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A life saving book, October 2, 2007
This review is from: When Panic Attacks: The New, Drug-Free Anxiety Therapy That Can Change Your Life (Paperback)
As someone who struggled with panic attacks for over 25 years, I have read a lot of books about anxiety. I now plan to get rid of all of the others! I read Dr. Burns' Feeling Good at my lowest point last year and it was a lifeline for me. That book focuses more on depression, and while some of the information in it applied to anxiety, I kept wishing he would write a book specifically on anxiety. This book has advice and exercises for every type of anxiety. Whether you have job performance anxiety, social anxiety, fear of riding in elevators or having blood drawn, the tools you need to overcome your fears are in here.
The key is--and Dr. Burns reinforces this point--you have to do the exercises in order to feel better. This means actually writing your answers on paper. It also means, in many cases, facing your fears. His methods combine exposure therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy. His words are warm and humorous, and you will feel supported as you break down barriers you may have built up for years.
Dr. Burns has improved my life immeasurably. I, and all of my loved ones who have had to suffer along with me for so many years, are grateful! Buy this book and try the exercises.
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