FEELING
    GOOD

The New      
Mood Therapy

A Clinically Proven Drug-free Treatment for Depression
DAVID D. BURNS, M.D.


Feeling good feels wonderful! In clear, simple language, Feeling Good outlines a drug-free cure for anxiety, guilt, pessimism, procrastination, low self-esteem, and other "black holes" of depression. The amazing, scientifically proven techniques described by eminent psychiatrist David D. Burns, M.D., will show you what you can do immediately to lift your spirits and develop a positive outlook on life. Discover how to:
  • Recognize what causes your mood swings
  • Nip negative feelings in the bud
  • Deal with guilt
  • Handle hostility and criticism
  • Overcome love and approval addiction
  • Beat "do-nothingism"
  • Defuse anger
  • Overcome perfectionism
  • Cope with stress
  • Avoid the downward spiral of depression
  • Build self-esteem
  • Feel good every day
Begin now, to experience the joy of feeling good!

[from the back cover]


Burns, Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy

About the Author

David D. Burns, M.D., was graduated magna cum laude from Amherst College, received his M.D. from Stanford University and completed his psychiatric training at the University of Pennsylvania. There he has been one of the prime developers of Cognitive Therapy. In addition to treating patients, he teaches psychotherapy and drug therapy at the University of Pennsylvania and lectures to professional groups around the world.

[from the inside page]


Table of Contents

Introduction
  1
Part I. THEORY AND RESEARCH
  7
1. A Breakthrough in the Treatment
of Mood Disorders

  9
2. How to Diagnose Your Moods:
The First Step in the Cure

 19
3. Understanding Your Moods:
You Feel the Way You Think

 28
Part II. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS
 51
4. Start by Building Self-Esteem
 53
5. Do-Nothingism: How to Beat It
 81
6. Verbal Judo: Learn to Talk Back
When You're Under the Fire
of Criticism

131
7. Feeling Angry? What's Your IQ?
149
8. Ways of Defeating Guilt
198
Part III. "REALISTIC" DEPRESSIONS
229
9. Sadness Is Not Depression
231
Part IV. PREVENTION AND PERSONAL
GROWTH

259
10. The Cause of It All
261
11. The Approval Addiction
290
12. The Love Addiction
311
13. Your Work Is Not Your Worth
327
14. Dare to Be Average!--
Ways to Overcome Perfectionism

352
Part V. DEFEATING HOPELESSNESS
AND SUICIDE

381
15. The Ultimate Victory:
Choosing to Live

383
Part VI. COPING WITH THE
STRESSES AND STRAINS
OF DAILY LIVING

407
16. How I Practice What I Preach
409
Part VII. THE CHEMISTRY OF MOOD
425
17. The Consumer's Guide to
Antidepressant Drug Therapy

427
Suggested Reading
452
Index
455

[from the softbound edition]



Reviews

A National Bestseller

Over 2 million copies in print!


"A book to read and re-read!"

--Los Angeles Times

[from the softbound edition]


Read more reviews of this book on the
Amazon.com website:
Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy


Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy on Amazon.com


Excerpts

"I continue to be depressed no matter what I do."

Because depression has been viewed as an emotional disorder throughout the history of psychiatry, therapists from most schools of thought place a strong emphasis on "getting in touch" with your feelings. Our research reveals the unexpected: Depression is not an emotional disorder at all! The sudden change in the way you feel is of no more casual relevance than a runny nose is when you have a cold. Every bad feeling you have is the result of your distorted negative thinking. Illogical pessimistic attitudes play the central role in the development and continuation of all your symptoms.

Intense negative thinking always accompanies a depressive episode, or any painful emotion for that matter. Your moody thoughts are likely to be entirely different from those you have when you are not upset...

[T]he negative thoughts that flood your mind are the actual cause of your self-defeating emotions. These thoughts are what keep you lethargic and make you feel inadequate. Your negative thoughts, or cognitions, are the most frequently overlooked symptoms of your depression. These cognitions contain the key to relief and are therefore your most important symptoms.

Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy
pages 28-29



People are not only thinkers, they are doers, so it is not surprising that you can substantially change the way you feel by changing the way you act. There's only one hitch -- when you're depressed, you don't feel like doing much.

One of the most destructive aspects of depression is the way it paralyzes your willpower. In its mildest form you may simply procrastinate about doing a few odious chores. As your lack of motivation intensifies, virtually any activity appears so difficult that you become overwhelmed by the urge to do nothing. Because you accomplish very little, you feel worse and worse. Not only do you cut yourself off from your normal sources of stimulation and pleasure, but your lack of productivity aggravates your self-hatred, resulting in further isolation and incapacitation.

If you don't recognize the emotional prison in which you are trapped, this situation can go on for weeks, months, or even years. Your inactivity will be all the more frustrating if you once took pride in the energy you had for life. Your do-nothingism can also affect your family and friends, who, like yourself, cannot understand your behavior. They may say that you must want to be depressed or else you'd "get off your behind." Such a comment only worsens your anguish and paralysis.

Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy
pages 81-82



Why do depressed individuals so frequently think of suicide, and what can be done to prevent these impulses? You will understand this if you examine the thinking of people who are actively suicidal. A pervasive, pessimistic vision dominates their thoughts. Life seems to be nothing but a hellish nightmare. As they look into the past, all they can remember are moments of depression and suffering.

When you feel down in the dumps, you may also feel so low at times that you get the feeling you were never really happy and never will be. If a friend or relative points out to you that, except for such periods of depression, you were quite happy, you may conclude they're mistaken or only trying to cheer you up. This is because while you are depressed you actually distort your memories of the past. You just can't conjure up any memories of periods of satisfaction or joy, so you erroneously conclude they did not exist. Thus, you mistakenly conclude that you always have been and always will be miserable...

No matter how bad you feel, it would be bearable if you had the conviction that things would eventually improve. The critical decision to commit suicide results from your illogical conviction that your mood can't improve. You feel certain that the future holds only more pain and turmoil!...

If you have had such thoughts in the past, or if you are seriously thinking this way at present, let me state the message of this chapter loud and clear:


You Are Wrong in Your Belief That Suicide Is the
Only Solution or the Best Solution to Your Problem.

Let me repeat that. You Are Wrong! When you think that you are trapped and hopeless, your thinking is illogical, distorted, and skewed. No matter how thoroughly you have convinced yourself, and even if you get other people to agree with you, you are just plain mistaken in your belief that it is ever advisable to commit suicide because of depressive illness. This is not the most rational solution to your misery. I will explain this position and help point the way out of the suicide trap.

Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy
pages 384-86

[from the softbound edition]


Read more about this book on the
Amazon.com website:
Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy


PFeeling Good: The New Mood Therapy on Amazon.com


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Feeling Good:
The New Mood Therapy

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Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy

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Other Books by
David D. Burns, M.D.

Learn more about this book also written by David D. Burns, M.D.:

Ten Days to Self-Esteem







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