Feeling Good

The New Mood Therapy

By: David D. Burns MD

Narrated by: George Newbern

Length: 13 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

The good news is that anxiety, guilt, pessimism, procrastination, low self-esteem, and other 'black holes' of depression can be cured without drugs. In Feeling Good, eminent psychiatrist David D. Burns, M.D. outlines the remarkable, scientifically proven techniques that will immediately lift your spirits and help you develop a positive outlook on life.

Now, in this updated edition, Dr. Burns adds an all-new Consumer's Guide To Antidepressant Drugs, as well as a new introduction to help answer your questions about the many options available for treating depression.

• Recognise what causes your mood swings.
• Nip negative feelings in the bud.
• Deal with guilt.
• Handle hostility and criticism.
• Overcome addiction to love and approval.
• Build self-esteem.
• Feel good everyday.

Please visit www.feelinggood.com to access supplemental materials, the Feeling Good Podcasts, the Feeling Good Blog, and more!

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©1980 David Burns (P)2017 HarperCollins Publishers

Definitely need the handbook that goes with it

This book is legendary. And cognitive behavioral therapy, is legendary. The problem with the Book on audio is that you can't follow with more than half of the entire book. He keeps referring to pages in chapters that you don't have.

Love the PDF enhancements that come with the book.

I am so excited that I found this book. It is so easy to understand and apply the techniques and it comes with PDF enhancements (just log into your audible account from a desktop, go to your complete library, download and print or use at your will) to assist in you in your progress.

Excellent book

Excellent book, Do not buy the audible version, you will need the charts, tables, etc..

Good book, not good for audible

The book is great and I fully intend to purchase the physical book. The format just isn't great for an audible book. There is an enhancement that ties with the book and you lose about 1/3 of the critical information from this enhancement as very little of the enhancement is read through. In my opinion from a audible book stand point this book is abridged as you have to download the enhancement and read the other 1/3 for the information this book has and it is important to follow with the figures on the enhancement as you are listening to the book. I listen to books during my commute so I can't follow along with the enhancement or I would crash into someone. Again, great book I highly recommend reading it, just purchase the physical copy and find the time to read it.

Great book for those dealing with depression!

I highly recommend this book if you struggle with depression. It is very helpful. Note, though, it'll take some work on your part, but it's well worth it.
Having read the Handbook first, and now having listened to this book, I actually recommend the Handbook version first. It forces you to do activities that will help you, whereas this book merely talks about it (in detail). I still liked this book, though, because it reminded me of everything I had done in the Handbook, which is about all I can do while I'm driving, anyhow. (Last I checked, the Handbook is not available in audio.)

The reader of this audio book is excellent. He actually sounds engaged, as though he's Dr. Burns himself, giving you the advice right then and there. Kudos to him. (My only pet peeve about him is he pronounces "often" as "off-ten." I was glad he didn't also say "soff-ten," "liss-ten," or "sall-mon.")

IMHO, you can skip the last 2-3 hours of this audio, which deals with antidepressant drugs. It's full of biology and chemistry lessons and lists of side-effects. He also talks ad nauseam about when or why to take drugs for depression. It's ad nauseam because his answer is always the same: therapy alone can work, or therapy plus drugs, but never drugs alone. Unfortunately he felt the need to say that over and over and over again.

Very helpful

It helps to understand the basis of depression. It has personally helped me to challenge my thoughts. I used to believe that I had some kind of chemical imbalance but once I looked deeper I realized I was constantly having subconscious negative thoughts.

I track my mood with the Joie app and have noticed that no other method of treatment has beaten the techniques in this book. Drugs didn't come close. I hope you get as much benefit as I did.

Well done

The combination of a well written book with a superb narrator makes for easy listening. While this is nonfiction at at times quite clinical, I'm going to miss listening to it every day.

One complaint- how does an Audible listener get the oft referred to 'Enhanced Portion' of this Audiobook?

Brilliant

Would you listen to Feeling Good again? Why?

Yes, life changing

What did you like best about this story?

It's ability to help you create your own "Matrix"

What about George Newbern’s performance did you like?

Pleasant voice, able to listen for long stretches.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Many

Any additional comments?

Most other self-help books after this one are some form of a rehash of this book. I have always been a huge Anthony Robbins fan, and now I see from where much (not all) of his material comes. I found the presentation and supplemental PDF delivered the messages in a more digestible and applicable way than most other books and authors on the subject.

Somewhat helpful

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

The author spends way too much time explaining examples, and seems as though he's speaking from a place of authority rather than understanding. It seemed to me as though he couldn't truly relate to the mind of a depressed person. While his education and career have given the knowledge to understand depression, he cannot relate on a personal level. I've read other cognitive behavioral self help books so I'm familiar with the techniques. The other books that I've read were extremely helpful and changed my life. I'm trying to pull myself out of a depression right now, and tried using this book as a tool to brush up on my techniques in order to help myself. While there were some helpful reminders, and one significantly helpful tidbit that gave me new insight to my way of thinking, the majority of the book is useless. There is a lot of rambling, you have to fast forward to get to the helpful points. With a plethora of other self help books available, I suggest going with a different author such as Gillian Butler. Her books changed my life and brought me out of a severe depression.

This book had the opposite effect for me...

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I would not likely recommend this book because I found it to be pretty depressing. Maybe it would help someone who isn't feeling well. It's a bit of a risk though.

Were the concepts of this book easy to follow, or were they too technical?

When books are too long, the information they present can be difficult to implement because it get's lost in the forest of pages. I also felt like many of the assumptions about the reader ended up weighing me down and kept me from absorbing the lessons.

What about George Newbern’s performance did you like?

A narrator you can't remember has done their job well.

Do you think Feeling Good needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

A shortened, updated summary would be nice. This would probably make it more accessible.

Any additional comments?

There are many assumptions being made on behalf of the author, like that the person reading the book is struggling. I felt like it was a bit dated. I would look up an overview before attempting to read it again.