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Top positive review
928 people found this helpful
5.0 out of 5 starsIgnore the negative reviews - it's worth a few bucks to judge for yourself
Bykathyshrinkson April 9, 2015
Let me start by saying I have been an Amazon customer for twenty years and I have *never* reviewed anything before. But I consider this book to important for me to keep my mouth shut. It was a life-changer for me. Don't know why some reviewers are saying it is not helpful for people with severe depression - maybe some people with severe depression need a different approach, but let me speak for the rest of us. I was having suicidal thoughts, and on the highest doses of meds available. I was also in therapy. I tried two different therapists, both of whom wanted to talk about other people in my life - my parents, my husband, etc. - which was not helping me at all. I was at my wit's end, really scared that I was going to hurt myself if things didn't get better soon, when a friend recommended this book. You have to do the exercises - yes, they seem silly, but if they work, who the heck cares? Get a nice little notebook and a pen that you enjoy writing with. I made mine a sort of journal that I doodled in and added little inspirational quotes here and there. And yes, it is deceptively simple. Again, who cares? If standing on my head and whistling "Dixie" would have made me feel this much better, I'd be doing that, too. I started reading the book a month ago. I do not do all the excercises, but I did try all of them. I do what works for me. It's also true that there is the usual filler crap that you get in self-help books "Janet is a 40-year old dental assistant who came to me in 2005 suffering from..." blah, blah, blah. Just skip it. My depression is so much better that I am shocked. I am no longer thinking about suicide, and I am actually able to picture a future that is not completely empty and black. A future!!!!!! I have not had a future in years! I can't express what that means to me, but if you have depression, I don't have to. Try the book. If it doesn't work, I hope you will try something else, and keep on trying. You are not alone, and you deserve to be happy.
Top critical review
2 people found this helpful
3.0 out of 5 starsI found the TED talk more inspiring, I'm afraid!
ByS. Wrighton June 8, 2018
I'm about 70 pages in, and not sure I can continue. In this book, women are either "housewives" (upset that their husbands think the roast they just cooked is "a little dry") or secretaries. I'm trying to take this "dated" quality with a grain of salt, but it really does kind of knock the relevance out of the frequent "real-life" examples. For those of us who feel inadequate in relation to our (female) Silicon Valley peers who are Harvard-trained cardiologists and engineers making $250K– while we struggle in a distinctly less-glamorous discipline– it's... well, I guess it's just the wrong book for the job. Maybe the wrong genre of book altogether for this particular problem!
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Bykathyshrinkson April 9, 2015
Let me start by saying I have been an Amazon customer for twenty years and I have *never* reviewed anything before. But I consider this book to important for me to keep my mouth shut. It was a life-changer for me. Don't know why some reviewers are saying it is not helpful for people with severe depression - maybe some people with severe depression need a different approach, but let me speak for the rest of us. I was having suicidal thoughts, and on the highest doses of meds available. I was also in therapy. I tried two different therapists, both of whom wanted to talk about other people in my life - my parents, my husband, etc. - which was not helping me at all. I was at my wit's end, really scared that I was going to hurt myself if things didn't get better soon, when a friend recommended this book. You have to do the exercises - yes, they seem silly, but if they work, who the heck cares? Get a nice little notebook and a pen that you enjoy writing with. I made mine a sort of journal that I doodled in and added little inspirational quotes here and there. And yes, it is deceptively simple. Again, who cares? If standing on my head and whistling "Dixie" would have made me feel this much better, I'd be doing that, too. I started reading the book a month ago. I do not do all the excercises, but I did try all of them. I do what works for me. It's also true that there is the usual filler crap that you get in self-help books "Janet is a 40-year old dental assistant who came to me in 2005 suffering from..." blah, blah, blah. Just skip it. My depression is so much better that I am shocked. I am no longer thinking about suicide, and I am actually able to picture a future that is not completely empty and black. A future!!!!!! I have not had a future in years! I can't express what that means to me, but if you have depression, I don't have to. Try the book. If it doesn't work, I hope you will try something else, and keep on trying. You are not alone, and you deserve to be happy.
928 people found this helpful
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ByJohn Nelsonon June 14, 2017
Once you start reading this book, you will start to feel better. If you suffer with depression, this book is better than any prescription I have tried.
It deals with the here and now, and teaches you how to understand your own negative contribution to your depression, and it gives you several tools with which you can assess where you are at, how you talk to yourself, how you interpret others, and how to regain control over that narrative.
Best book that I have ever read. It made a difference just reading, but much more so by using the knowledge and tools that Dr. Burns provides in the book. I bought copies for friends and family who have also had learned how to feel better and even feel good.
I would give it 6 stars if I could
It deals with the here and now, and teaches you how to understand your own negative contribution to your depression, and it gives you several tools with which you can assess where you are at, how you talk to yourself, how you interpret others, and how to regain control over that narrative.
Best book that I have ever read. It made a difference just reading, but much more so by using the knowledge and tools that Dr. Burns provides in the book. I bought copies for friends and family who have also had learned how to feel better and even feel good.
I would give it 6 stars if I could
ByBrian W.on July 21, 2017
The ideas in this book are so simple, yet so powerful. We all have an inner voice (the Buddhists call it "monkey mind") that creates thoughts in our brain. These thoughts then make us feel a certain way. In knowing that our thoughts create how we feel, we can drastically improve the quality of our lives.
This book shows that it's not what happens to us in life, it's what we think about it.
For example, say you lose your job. Many people would then catastrophize and think negative thoughts about how awful it was, how we're going to be homeless and go broke and then we get depressed. Instead of thinking like that, we should think realistically about how it's tough that we lost our jobs, but we'll eventually find another one and that we will overcome the current crisis.
I was a pessimist for years. Negative thinking becomes a habit and changes brain chemistry. By thinking more realistically and talking back to our negative thoughts, we can live much happier lives.
This book shows that it's not what happens to us in life, it's what we think about it.
For example, say you lose your job. Many people would then catastrophize and think negative thoughts about how awful it was, how we're going to be homeless and go broke and then we get depressed. Instead of thinking like that, we should think realistically about how it's tough that we lost our jobs, but we'll eventually find another one and that we will overcome the current crisis.
I was a pessimist for years. Negative thinking becomes a habit and changes brain chemistry. By thinking more realistically and talking back to our negative thoughts, we can live much happier lives.
BySJEon April 15, 2017
I was fortunate to learn that the author was trained at my alma-mater, and it gave me the initial faith to read this book and do the work inside. This is university tested and developed Cognitive Behavior Therapy made available to anyone, it's success has been documented in over 40,000 patients in double-blind peer-reviewed studies. It changed my life. For 15 years I WAS anti-depressants and anti-anxiety medications, after reading this book, and doing the Cognitive Behavior Therapy exercises, I was able to wean myself off meds completely.
Unfortunately, I've had to grapple with anxiety and depression most of my life. But you work with the hand you were dealt, am I right?
On top of meds and therapy, I've amassed quite a collection of self-help books, some better than others. I try to be proactive in dealing with my business; I feel that's super important in helping deal with mental and emotional problems. For anxiety, I've found that books on mindfulness meditation to be quite helpful. For depression, stuff that emphasizes CBT is effective.
That's why I like this book. It's written well, although some bits seem a bit dated (an example in the book of something that might irritate you is when you use your last dime at a payphone and the call drops and you don't get your money back. Little things like that pop up here and there in the book, but don't detract from the important things).
I use some of the exercises in this book with a therapist which is helpful. There are exercises where the author asks you to write out things instead of mentally reviewing things. I agree with that recommendation. It helps solidify concepts and organize your thoughts.
The book is written well, and in a conversational way. I found there were many times the author explained something that made me say 'Yeah, that's me! If I'm being honest, that's how I think and what it really means!'
Hopefully you'll like it. Do the exercises, be honest in the exercises, and if you see a therapist try working through this stuff with them. My therapist knew who this author was right away and was familiar with his work.
It's one of the few books like this that I own that I go back and review periodically.
On top of meds and therapy, I've amassed quite a collection of self-help books, some better than others. I try to be proactive in dealing with my business; I feel that's super important in helping deal with mental and emotional problems. For anxiety, I've found that books on mindfulness meditation to be quite helpful. For depression, stuff that emphasizes CBT is effective.
That's why I like this book. It's written well, although some bits seem a bit dated (an example in the book of something that might irritate you is when you use your last dime at a payphone and the call drops and you don't get your money back. Little things like that pop up here and there in the book, but don't detract from the important things).
I use some of the exercises in this book with a therapist which is helpful. There are exercises where the author asks you to write out things instead of mentally reviewing things. I agree with that recommendation. It helps solidify concepts and organize your thoughts.
The book is written well, and in a conversational way. I found there were many times the author explained something that made me say 'Yeah, that's me! If I'm being honest, that's how I think and what it really means!'
Hopefully you'll like it. Do the exercises, be honest in the exercises, and if you see a therapist try working through this stuff with them. My therapist knew who this author was right away and was familiar with his work.
It's one of the few books like this that I own that I go back and review periodically.
ByParis A.on March 2, 2017
My therapist suggested this book as an introduction to cognitive behavior therapy. I liked it a lot. I thought the author laid everything out well and the book was very readable. I could definitely recommend it.
5.0 out of 5 starsI still have about 200 pages to go but this book has already helped me tremendously.
Bymatt hodinon May 14, 2018
I still have about 200 pages to go but this book has already helped me tremendously. It's a rather simple idea that only one's thoughts can affect one's mood, but once you dig deeper and really understand what this concept means, it can have a large and significant impact on your life. People who suffer from anxiety and depression have a common them amongst their thoughts, being distortion. Burns explains that in order to master the art of feeling good, you must recognize your distorted and unrealistic thoughts as soon as you have them. By calling immediate attention to the absurdity of these negative thoughts, you learn to "fight back" and prevent yourself from believing these thoughts, rendering them useless. Nothing in life is a simple fix, but if you can commit, this book can help you head down the right path to alleviate anxiety and to ultimately lead a happier life.
ByMaryon August 6, 2017
I really like David burns Books his work has truly changed me, however, this book is long! I listened to the audio version on a 6 hour drive and only got through the first third / half. He actually started to lose me quite a bit in the middle, however if you distill it down to his main points (covered in the first few CDs mainly and then repeated over and over ad nauseum) it is incredibly helpful, especially for someone like me who had been really struggling and anxiety ridden over various issues happening simultaneously ( job change, move, relationship issues); it really did change my outlook quite quickly for the better, just be sure to stick with the practice and exercises! I definitely recommend, but just be ready for a really long book, but honestly if you're like me, you'll get the most out of the first few chapters, and you can expect to start to feel better quite quickly. Good luck
ByKyle Ericksonon April 10, 2018
I bought this book when I was in the middle of the worst depressive episode of my life. I was seeking medical help, which did help, but to be completely honest this book helped me more than anything else. It has so many useful exercises to pick up on your rumination/negative loops and gradually put an end to it. It's written in an incredibly encouraging manner and really made me believe that what I was going through was temporary and that I could get better. Dr Burns describes examples of his own patients, some of which were extremely serious cases, and walks you through how they were able to apply the concepts in this book and get better. He makes it clear that everyone is different and what two people need to make things click for them could be completely different, and that's okay and normal. The prescription medication guide is a little outdated, but still useful if you're curious.
It's been 6 months since I read this book and I couldn't be more thankful for it. It's been a major driver behind me getting better and being able to genuinely enjoy life again. I'd honestly recommend this to anyone, regardless if they're struggling with depression/mental illness or not - anyone could benefit from this book.
It's been 6 months since I read this book and I couldn't be more thankful for it. It's been a major driver behind me getting better and being able to genuinely enjoy life again. I'd honestly recommend this to anyone, regardless if they're struggling with depression/mental illness or not - anyone could benefit from this book.
Bymabeemaybenoton January 21, 2016
Read this as a teen, followed it and pulled myself out of a depression. 30 years later, bought it to help my teenage son and we are reviewing it as a family! it's enlightening, and helps you keep it real! This book teaches you the skill we ALL need depressed, angry, anxious, whatever, to deal with our lives. Get our thoughts together, people! This is one of if not the most effective, long lasting books OF MY 44 YEAR LIFE. Buy one and DO it! Like this should be a required reading in high school. So much more for us as a society than Romeo and Juliet and all that other jazz we make our kids read. Get THIS in your life today.
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