Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy - David D. Burns, MD

This book was originally written in 1980, when cognitive therapy was truly ground-breaking.  And that's what this book is about: cognitive therapy, how to use it and how powerful it can be.  I have had this book for probably over ten years without reading it.  Now, it was time.

Some parts of this book show their age.  There is a section at the end about medications that is, well, 30 years old.  Most of today's popular anti-depressants didn't even exist then and aren't listed.  That's an extreme example, but there were definitely parts that made me realize this book was written a while ago.  Also, I didn't always appreciate Dr. Burns's writing style.  Two examples of things that didn't work for me:

Does that sound like heresy or stupidity to you?  If you think I'm contradicting the obvious, you may feel like burning this book or throwing it down in disgust.  If so, I dare you to read on...


Harriet mastered the...Method quickly and reported a dramatic change in her mood and outlook because it gave her a simple, effective way to handle a problem that had been very real and overwhelming.  When she returned for the next session, her depression - which had crippled her for over a decade - had lifted and was entirely gone.


Okay, seriously?  Over a decade of crippling depression gone just like that?  I had a hard time swallowing that.

Now, criticism out of the way, this is a good book in a lot of ways.  There are real, honest to goodness things that you can do to help.  My personal belief is that depression and moods aren't caused by any one thing necessarily; brain chemistry can be a factor.  Foods (like sugar, especially) can be a factor.  Exercise can be a factor.  And what's discussed in this book can be a major factor - but one factor.  That's just my opinion.  I got some good stuff out of this book, though.  I noticed that even just in reading it, when I'd put it down for the day, I would be feeling a little better - without doing any of the exercises.  Just by reading about them and how to do them.  And I think that that says a lot.

There's also a self-assessment test in one part that shows me that I am emotionally strongest in the categories of Achievement, Perfectionism, Entitlement and Omnipotence...and that I'm emotionally the most vulnerable in the categories of Approval, Love and Autonomy.  Close to what I would have guessed, but maybe not an exact match; and this is good to know, since it helps me see where I excel and where I don't.

All in all - a book worth reading for anyone with depression, currently or previously.  It can be one powerful aspect of dealing with it.