The Feeling Good Handbook
82% recommend18% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Practical CBT workbook for spotting and disarming cognitive distortions, useful for depression, anxiety, and procrastination. Readers say the first few chapters carry the core, and keep it as a handy desk reference.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Cognitive-behavioral psychology for improving depressed mood. Self-help and self-understanding.
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Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
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Someone here recommended David Burns' "The Feeling Good Handbook" and it was a very, very good read. I'm not going to say it turned my life around, but it taught me how to spot and disarm all kinds of cognitive distortions, defeat laziness, better align my expectations…
on “Tips for the depressed” ↗I just wanted to reply to give another endorsement to David Burns' Feeling Good (http://www.amazon.com/Feeling-Good-New-Mood-Therapy/dp/03808...) - I personally use the Feeling Good Handbook (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0452281326) which is the exact same thing but a little condensed. It's a big book which can be hard to tackle with depression. Guys, if you're suffering from depression…
on “We Need to Have Sympathy for Those With Depression. It is an Illness” ↗…what those are and where they come from. 3) Talk to people, read, and if that's not enough, get help (seems like you're doing that). You'll probably learn something about yourself. I can recommend "The Feeling Good Handbook" by David Burns (Stanford), which is about cognitive therapy [also described in other places]. It may not be exactly accurate for your situation, and those types of books may sound silly (I thought so…
on “Ask HN: Are you happy, well-rounded? (dealing w/ depression/lack of motivation)” ↗…hacks I've found to work. I would also highly recommend seeing a counselor/therapist (there are sliding-scale prices), they are of tremendous value, but if you're broke like I am, I highly recommend The Feeling Good Handbook by David D. Burns [2]. I can't say enough good things about it; it has helped me tremendously when I've felt stuck and helpless. If you're very hard on yourself, very goal-oriented and driven, and you're…
on “Failed entrepreneur, broke, unemployed, now taking care of aging parents. Help.” ↗…the 3rd stage onwards, and can actually hurt your chances of successfully changing if you commit when you're in an earlier stage!). - Changing the way you think: David Burns' books, particularly the "Feeling Good Handbook" (http://www.amazon.com/Feeling-Good-Handbook-David-Burns/dp/0...), and Helmstetter's "What to say when you talk to yourself" (http://www.amazon.com/What-Say-When-Talk-Yourself/dp/0671708...) - Awaken…
on “There's no speed limit (2009)” ↗Seconded--actually I highly recommend The Feeling Good Handbook by the same author (David Burns). I've found it very helpful for dealing with procrastination as well.
on “Ask HN: How did you deal with depression?” ↗I found David Burns' 'The Feeling Good Handbook' an invaluable resource while coping with depression and probably the factor that helped the most. Others probably were removing stress (changed from a job which was just not working for me), getting…
on “Ask HN: How do you deal with depression?” ↗It is possible to learn it from a book on your own. I recommend The Feeling Good Handbook by David D. Burns. https://www.amazon.com/Feeling-Good-Handbook-David-Burns/dp/... This is the book my therapist had me read as part of my “homework” between sessions. While this is completely anecdotal,…
on “The brain’s reading of the body’s state is key to mental health” ↗Mine is comorbid with being bipolar. The only thing that helped was medication and then… - Learning CBT from a book with the help of a therapist to guide me. https://www.amazon.com/Feeling-Good-Handbook-David-Burns/dp/... The core of it is in the first few chapters. Never read the later ones once I got the concept. - Learning how to have realistic expectations about what I can do day after day. - Prioritize…
on “Developers spend most of their time figuring the system out” ↗For what it's worth, CBT was hugely helpful for me. I read The Feeling Good Handbook (kind of the CBT bible, a new edition of Feeling Good). CBT is definitely a tool that you want on your tool belt if you're struggling with anxiety/depression. It may not be the be all end all, but I…
on “Book Review: All Therapy Books” ↗While I agree that being skeptical about self-help books is a good thing, I think you made a big mistake in your specific example. I have not looked at "The Feeling Good Handbook" that you linked to, but I am quite familiar its predecessor (by the same author), "Feeling Good", which is excellent. It has helped a couple of my friends, and at least one other HN reader.[1] Further,…
on “Good people behaving badly on the Internet” ↗…pain. Your mileage may vary, and I’m not a doctor and all that, but one thing that has worked wonders in my own life is cognitive behavioral therapy. You can get the gist of it in this chapter from “The Feeling Good Handbook”, which was written by one of the pioneers in the field: http://faculty.fortlewis.edu/burke_b/personality/readings/Bu... That, and getting plenty of sleep.
on ““Stress Hormone” Cortisol Linked to Early Toll on Thinking Ability” ↗It's a book, not a website, but I highly recommend "The Feeling Good Handbook." http://www.amazon.com/dp/0452281326 It's also been shown in experiments to be beneficial: see e.g. http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/ccp/63/4/644/ http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/ccp/65/2/324/ I know…
on “Psychotherapy via Internet found as good as or better than face-to-face” ↗Burns's "Feeling Good" book led me to a breakthrough in my mood management. Now I keep a copy of the Feeling Good Handbook for quick reference beside my desk at all times.
on “Ask HN: Cognitive behaviour therapy, tried and tested resources” ↗…despite a number of ongoing difficult circumstances in my life. I'd recommend it to just about anyone, at any age. I didn't go through CBT with a therapist. I just read the first few chapters of The Feeling Good Handbook, then tried to establish a habit of confronting my negative feelings, and the thoughts that were feeding them by identifying the distortions in those thoughts. YMMV, but it may be worth a try.
on “Ask HN: Has anyone here turned around their life in their 40s?” ↗