Managing Your Mind: The Mental Fitness Guide (Oxford Paperbacks) (Paperback)

by Gillian Butler (Author), Tony Hope (Author) "In that confident decade of the 1950s, Richard Hamilton titled one of his paintings: Just what is it that makes today's homes so different, so..." (more)
Key Phrases: efficient revision strategy, drinking diary, crooked thinking, Related Chapters, Thought Record, Alternative Diary (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist
Self-help and personal betterment tomes are often so earnest and so zealous to help everybody have a perfect life that they are off-putting to readers who merely want some advice. Butler and Hope's low-key compendium of mental self-help is refreshingly free of such obsessiveness. Bright, readable, and insightful, it offers modest goals that are bracingly achievable by means of "skills, understanding, and strategies to suit your circumstances and inclinations." This may sound foggy or indefinite, but it is positively precise and reasonable for works in this genre. Butler and Hope present problems in broad contexts, indicated by such chapter titles as "Treating Yourself Right," "Good Eating Habits," and "Making Decisions." Then, drawing on their clinical experience, they dissect and illuminate specific complaints and offer simple advice. Consider the resulting wide-ranging adviser a fitness book for the mind, rather like a Kathy Smith workout video for the sexiest, rather than the bounciest, part of your body. Mike Tribby --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"Offers modest goals that are bracingly achievable....Consider the resulting wide-ranging adviser a fitness book for the mind, rather like a Kathy Smith workout video for the sexiest, rather than the bounciest, part of your body."--Booklist
"A well-written, thoughtful guide."--Library Journal


See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (February 13, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195111257
• ISBN-13: 978-0195111255
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #658,959 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

64 of 74 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Some excellent skills with some major philosophical problems, May 7, 2002

By	Dr. Ellen Kenner, Clinical Psychologist - See all my reviews

It's unusual for me to read chapters of a book out of order. Had I read this book from front to back, I would have angrily tossed it out when I hit chapters 3 and 4. The authors have not had the pleasure of grasping the virtue of selfishness. Instead, they occasionally apologize and appease. In these early chapters they recommend "unconditional positive regard" stating that it's "not selfish, nor egoistic" to have this attitude towards ourselves. This chapter is a philosophical junkyard. They ask why we admire a Mother Teresa and answer that it's because she sacrifices herself for others. They ask "Would you admire her if she sacrificed herself for something worthless?" and omit the possibility that she is not admirable because she lived a life of sacrifice by choice and encourages others to do likewise. The authors also invent the contradictory concept of the "unselfish I."
So heaven help me! Why would I recommend such a book? I recommend it because it is chock full of simple good tips - e.g., good study skills, identifying and pursuing healthy goals to bring you pleasure, keeping friendships fair - with a lovely undercurrent of egoism despite occasional nosedives. For example, "Cultural attitudes, including religious ones, seem to make rewarding oneself seem bad..." (Were it my book, I would omit the "seem to") - or "Do not make a virtue out of being a martyr." The mix of good and bad ideas in this book makes me wonder if one author was philosophically healthier than the other one. This book offers valuable thinking skills. I recommend skipping chapters 1-3. This is a good book to keep in your reference library. If you are having difficulty with a particular issue in your life, read the chapter on that. Some skills that are helpful include:
- "swat" the NATs (negative automatic thoughts)
- distant elephants (do not commit yourself to unimportant activities no matter how far ahead they are)
- focus on important but non-urgent activities, rather than urgent non-important activities
- avoid "pressurizing" words: "should, must, have to, ought" which drain motivation
- avoid avoidance - actively solve your problems rather than run from them
- reduce the "inside" load of stress by changing attitudes
- learn how to unpackage your fears
- motivate yourself by focusing on the personal benefits of your success

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Comprehensively covers many problems people experience., August 23, 1999

By A Customer

This book offers practical approaches to helping a person solve his own problems. I read it through when I first purchased it (1996). Now I refer to it from time to time when I feel I need help with a particular matter. This book is easy to read, and it explains things in a professional manner for better understanding. The book offers practical techniques for solving many common and some difficult problems people experience. Teenagers can benefit reading this book because it addresses real problems which they are likely to face with real answers and stresses personal accountability for the answer to most of life's problems. I recommend it highly to everyone. It's a great book!

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent advice for those seeking relief from depression, March 9, 2000

By A Customer

I just picked this up at a local book store when I was very depressed, and it was just what I needed! The chapters on depression and anxiety are full of strategies and, dare I say, remedies for the depression illness. I've read a couple other books on similar therapies such as cognitive therapy, but have to recommend this one most of all. I especially found the section on what causes depression very insightful. One of these is not living your life to match with your values. How true! Although my values are God, wife, family, home, I've lived my life single til now as a wanderer with no direction to achieve those things I value so much. Now that I understand the rut that I'm in and how I got here, I'm going to make the changes necessary to be happy again!