Summary of Dr. David D. Burns's Feeling Great

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.

Book Preview: #1 The most important thing is how you feel inside. Scales like the ones you just completed are among the best in the world at measuring how you feel. They are approximately 95 percent accurate.

#2 Your feelings about other people can change from time to time, so make sure you take these tests as often as you like, but make sure that the person you’re thinking about on the scale is always the same. Otherwise, your scores may go up and down just because you’re thinking about different people.

#3 If you want to develop more loving and satisfying relationships, you must be willing to let go of things you’re addicted to. The Temptations Test is an extremely reliable tool that asks about cravings and urges to use over the past week.

#4 The tests are designed to show you how susceptible you are to temptation. If your score on the test is 15 or above, it means that you’re almost certain to give in to the temptation.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Feb 21, 2022
• ISBN: 9781669350330

IRB Media

With IRB books, you can get the key takeaways and analysis of a book in 15 minutes. We read every chapter, identify the key takeaways and analyze them for your convenience.

Book preview

Insights on David D. Burns and M.D.'s Feeling Great

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 4

Insights from Chapter 5

Insights from Chapter 6

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

The most important thing is how you feel inside. Scales like the ones you just completed are among the best in the world at measuring how you feel. They are approximately 95 percent accurate.

#2

Your feelings about other people can change from time to time, so make sure you take these tests as often as you like, but make sure that the person you’re thinking about on the scale is always the same. Otherwise, your scores may go up and down just because you’re thinking about different people.

#3

If you want to develop more loving and satisfying relationships, you must be willing to let go of things you’re addicted to. The Temptations Test is an extremely reliable tool that asks about cravings and urges to use over the past week.

#4

The tests are designed to show you how susceptible you are to temptation. If your score on the test is 15 or above, it means that you’re almost certain to give in to the temptation.

#5

The Happiness Test is a tool used to help you determine how happy you are right now. It’s a simple test, and the higher your scores, the happier you are.

#6

If you want to change the way you’re thinking and feeling, you’ll have to do the exercises while you’re reading this book. Are you willing to do them.

#7

W willingness is extremely important in overcoming depression, anxiety, relationship problems, and habits and addictions. It is important to have a willingness to do the written exercises while you read this book, because it will help you learn more rapidly.

#8

There has been some research done on the effects of psychotherapy homework on depression, and the results suggest that it does not lead to changes in depression.

#9

Cognitive distortions are the thoughts that lead to negative emotions. They are the beliefs that cause worry, anger, and sadness. You can learn to identify and reframe these thoughts to eliminate negative emotions.

#10

Cognitive distortions are the thoughts you have about yourself and your life that are twisted and inaccurate, but you don’t realize it. They are a form of self-deception. When you feel depressed and anxious, you are usually fooling yourself.

#11

Overgeneralization is when you generalize a specific flaw, failure, or mistake to your entire self. You should suspect overgeneralization whenever your negative thoughts contain global labels or words like always or never.

#12

You may tell yourself that your positive qualities or successes don’t count. You may convince yourself that you’re completely bad, inferior, or worthless. You may also dwell on your own flaws, thinking you’re too short or too tall, and obsess about your appearance.

#13

Mind reading can lead to feelings of hopelessness and anxiety. It can also lead to social anxiety, especially shyness.

#14

The binocular trick is used by anxiety to exaggerate danger. You look through a pair of binoculars, which makes everything much bigger, and you look through the opposite end, which makes everything much smaller.

#15

Emotions are not always a reliable guide to reality. They can be incredibly misleading when you feel depressed, anxious, or angry, because feelings result from thoughts, and negative thoughts are often distorted.

#16

When you tell yourself that you shouldn’t feel the way you do, that you shouldn’t have made that mistake, or that you should be better than you are, it’s much harder to see that you’re fooling yourself.

#17

Labeling is an extreme form of overgeneralization in which you try to capture the essence of yourself or another person with a one-word label. It is very common in political and religious battles, and it tends to fire up negative emotions.

#18

When you’re feeling depressed or anxious, your thoughts will be negative and distorted. But here’s the good news: your feelings will result from your thoughts and not from what actually happened.

#19

Postpartum depression is a biological disorder triggered by sudden changes in hormones following childbirth. However, it is always triggered