If you are serious about overcoming depression The New Mood Therapy by Burns is definitely the book to buy. Reading it could be a new start in life for you, as it was for me.
The book was recommended to me way back in 1996 when I had depression. I never looked back. It actually changed my life! I don’t think any book can get higher praise than that!
Burns follows a Cognitive Therapy approach which is regarded as the best therapy for overcoming depression. The basic premise is that if you change your thinking, your mood will follow suit and change as well.
In ‘The New Mood Therapy’, Burns give many, easy to follow tools for overcoming faulty thinking patterns, which he calls ‘Cognitive Distortions’.
He writes in a very easy to read, humorous style. Normally one would associate dreariness with depression, but not so with this book! He has the ability to make the reader laugh when elaborating on some of the faulty thinking that rule our lives. Even if you’re not depressed it’s easy to identify with his examples. Knowledge gives power!
Now some 17 years later I still remember reading in bed and chuckling to myself about some of his illustrations. One in particular stays with me that made me laugh.
Seagull poops on Man’s Head!
A man was walking along the beach, and suddenly out of the blue, a seagull poops on his head with a perfect aim! The man’s response made me laugh even more.
‘Why is that ALWAYS happening to me?
No surprise he was feeling down in the dumps. I would also be if it happened to me ALL the time, EVERY time I set foot out the door! But the truth is that we often exaggerate with our thinking, which then pulls our mood down. Thinking realistically, a bad event seldom happens ‘ALWAYS’! The word ‘always’ is a warning that your thinking is tending towards overgeneralization – one on the list of cognitive distortions. ‘Sometimes’ is a better word and brings the thought back to reality!
I regard this book so highly, that I have bought extra copies over the years to give to friends who are depressed or anxious.
And the good news is that it is extremely reasonably priced – it costs the fraction of the price of one therapy session. Buying this book changed my life, it could change yours as well!
You can buy David D. Burns – The New Mood Therapy at Amazon.
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