Book Review | Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy

Feeling Good is a successful cognitive behavioral therapy book. I finished this book in a year. I did all the tests and practices in the book.

So many things have changed in my life in one year. The book Feeling Good didn’t directly change my life but it helped me to change it myself for the better.

I was struggling with minor depression from time to time. Once I had major depression for 15 days. Then I went to the psychiatrist. He gave me (Wellbutrin XL 150 mg 30). After that day, I started to feel very well, but I realized I had to read a book.

I didn’t have money to go to therapy. So I applied the tests in this book.

There’s a depression test in the book. I did this test and got a 29/100. I thought my major depression ended after the medication. But it was still affecting me.

I applied the tests at different times.

1 month after I got 59%
63% after 3 months
79% after 1 year
4 years after I got 74%

Depression Test Increased my awareness.

I write this article four years after I finished the book. Now I will tell you how I am and what I learned from the book.

I’ve stopped being a perfectionist.

I’m still reluctant to act sometimes. But I often push myself.

I don’t blame myself too much. (I do this sometimes but it’s not much as I used to.)

My self-confidence has increased.

I feel less anxious.  

Someone else’s interpretation.

I didn’t get any therapy, and I don’t feel so good. I still want to go to therapy anyway. My self-confidence is a little low now because I’m unemployed. I’m also aware of the mistakes I’ve made in the past. This reduces my self-esteem.

Maybe I should read the book a second time.

My thought about the author: David Burns

David has a strong personality and he is patient. He knows how to speak.

I felt as If I were in his session. I felt strong.

With great discipline, I applied the methods in the book.

I’ve never been able to do this with another book.

That’s why the book Feeling Good and David Burns is very important and valuable to me. It impressed me and changed my life.

Feeling Good And Warped Thoughts

 Burns gives a list of 10 types of warped thoughts, but in my opinion, there is quite a bit of overlap in the categories. The distortions more or less boil down to the following: ( Roy Lotz’s review )

—Making negative assumptions, whether about the future or about what someone else is thinking;

—Assuming that one’s emotions accurately reflect reality;

—Over-generalizing a small number of negative occurrences into an inevitable trend;

—Willfully ignoring all of the positives to focus solely on the negative;

—Thinking in black and white categories;

—Making unjustified “should” or “ought” statements about the world without considering other people’s perspectives;

—Feeling that you are responsible for things over which you have no control;

—Labeling oneself and others with vague pejoratives.  

Last Updated on December 12, 2022 by Lucas Berg