Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy

Cognitive therapy explained for the reader, with exercises for catching the thoughts that drag a mood down (all-or-nothing thinking, mind reading, labelling yourself) and answering them. Practical rather than reflective.

Worth knowing: One of the few self-help books tested in controlled trials: reading it helped people with mild to moderate depression (Scogin and colleagues, 1989, and later studies). It is dated in places and long; use the exercises, skim the rest. It is not a replacement for a doctor when things are bad.

How to start: Start with the chapter on the ten thinking errors and try one exercise, not the whole book.

Find a copy · the research behind it: Is it better to change the situation or to suppress the reaction?