from severe depression and anxiety to minimal, in 4 weeks!: all thanks to this book

depression anxiety
Photo by SOULSANA on Unsplash

1 in 4 people are affected by mental health problems at some point in their lives.

WHO

august of 2020, i went from severe depression and anxiety to minimal/normal depression and anxiety — in just 4 weeks!!! all thanks to this book!

one of the best things i liked about this book is that it offers a self-diagnostic test in the beginning so you can get present to how severe your depression/anxiety is to begin with and then measure your progress as you read the book. 

when i took that initial test in august 2020, i got severe depression and severe anxiety; and within 4 weeks of reading and practising what was suggested in the book, i went from severe depression and anxiety to minimal depression and anxiety.

a little bit about the book

we all have read/heard the importance of positive thinking but this book is not about that. the book offers tools to destroy our negative thoughts.

the book is based on cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)

“Cognitive behavioural therapy focuses on changing the automatic negative thoughts that can contribute to and worsen emotional difficulties, depression, and anxiety. These spontaneous negative thoughts have a detrimental influence on mood. Through CBT, these thoughts are identified, challenged, and replaced with more objective, realistic thoughts.”

source: verywellmind

see, when you are going through anxiety or depression, you can’t just cover it up with “happy” or “positive” thoughts, no matter how much you try. even if you do manage to cover up the negative thoughts with positive ones, you might feel good for some time but it is not sustainable. because the negative thought patterns are still there in the background and they come back on top with time (unless they are addressed or destroyed).

it is like putting icing on a shit pie, at the end of the day, it is still shit!

positive thinking is important, but it alone won‘t work. 

positive thinking is like putting a band-aid on a wound. it is important, but if your immune system is not working on healing the wound from within, all that the band-aid is doing then is protecting you from any further harm (which is also important, but not enough to heal the wound)

we witness the best results/healing when the band-aid and our immune system are working in tandem. that’s what this book will help you do. 

this book will help you destroy your negative thoughts patterns, with logic, so they don’t come back. and then you can continue to build on a better life with positive thinking. 

the book

the book that helped me get out of severe depression and anxiety is The Feeling Good Handbook” by David D Burns, MD.

*note, there are two versions of this book, one is “Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy” and the other is the handbook. the handbook is the one i read, which has all the exercises that will help you destroy your negative thought patterns.

Burns shared that the participants benefitted from reading this book along with their regular consultation with the therapist. (i wasn’t seeing any therapist when i read this book, #jussharin)

according to his research, reading this book had a similar effect on people to those who were on medication! and, the effects lasted even after 2-3 months of the participants having finished reading the book.

it has been 1 year since i read the book and i can vouch for that!

the best part is, even when you do feel overwhelmed by anxiety, you can always refer back to the exercises in the book to have a more rational perception of the situation. and with practice, that becomes your second nature. so you destroy the negative thought patterns yourself.  

so, if you are going through depression / anxiety, or you want to destroy your negative thought patterns, i highly recommend you read the “feeling good handbook” which has exercises that you can practice to destroy your negative thought patterns. 


i hope this book helps you as much as it has helped me!

peace and power to you x

tojo

*disclaimer, i am not a medical professional, and this is not medical advice. i am just sharing my experience. do consult your doctor/therapist before making any changes to your medication or lifestyle. 

ps if you are struggling with your mental health, i invite you to check these posts!!!

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