How Not to Be Depressed: What I Learned from Reading Feeling Good
Depression may not be something we’d like to openly and seriously talk about. It can even take a certain amount of courage and vulnerability to acknowledge this feeling within us, but life can be tough, and depression sometimes does occur when we’re facing challenges and difficulties in our job, our family, our school, our relationships that feel insurmountable. How can we maintain a positive, upbeat attitude without letting hardship knocks us into depression? How can we maintain a healthy mind, so that we can be resilient no matter what life throws at us?
I recently finished the book Feeling Good written by Dr. David D. Burns. Reading it has been hugely beneficial because it has equipped me with the knowledge and tools to identify and combat depression. I highly recommend it and believe that you can benefit from it too, even if you’re not depressed.
Thoughts → Feelings & Behaviors
Dr. Burns is an expert in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, also known as CBT. I’d come across this term quite a few times before, and this book gave me a deep dive into its underlying theory.
CBT is premised on this idea that our feelings and behaviors stem from our cognition, which is our mental activities and thoughts. Depression, in fact, is caused by our…
