Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy

It seems we are all looking for the right things to do in order to feel well.

Would you know where to start?

Our motivation may be that we feel uncomfortable with where we are and so we start asking questions.

What do I need to do to feel better?

There is so much information circulating and essentially, we have knowledge at our finger tips.

But we are knowledge poor!

WHAT THE 21ST CENTURY HAS DONE IS TO PROVOKE US TO LOOK OUTSIDE OURSELVES FOR THE ANSWERS.

I think the answer is exactly the opposite of what is available to us.

We need to look inside!

Oh dear we have our own answers!

We don’t need something to put us to sleep or wake us up or calm us down or liven us up, we are actually self-sufficient.

Now saying this, I am the first to acknowledge that there have been times that I have felt blocked. Something doesn’t feel quite right and I know it feels uncomfortable but can’t put my finger on what it is.

Sometimes I can’t see the trees for the forest.

Life can be overwhelming and you want a quick fix, a solution that will answer your “PROBLEMS”.

Let’s face it us humans don’t like pain, in fact we shy away from it.

A nurse once said to me, as she inserted the needle into my arm while doing a blood test, don’t move away. I asked her if anyone she knew moved towards pain. She smirked and said nothing more.

My point made.

Pain however is a very good motivator. It lets us know something isn’t quite right, that something feels wrong.

We come against pain and it sends a message that somethings wrong. But pain can force you to take time to stop and re-evaluate. This time to consider however should be one of internal reflection. What am I supposed to understand from this situation, or really connect to your inner guidance and just be with the pain to understand it? Yes we all have inner guidance and it certainly is useful.

Sometimes we just choose not to listen.

That inner quiet is a place of personal knowledge. It’s the space with our own personal answers.

Meditation is a great way to access this place, as is a walk or jog or just spending some time in a quiet place to let your mind wonder. If you pay attention to your dreams your subconscious mind is releasing a lot of the stress that you may encounter. Understanding the essence behind the stress actually diminishes that stress.

Wellness in the 21st century for me is about looking inward rather than trying to find the solutions outside of yourself.

The answers may not even come to you as a revelation but rather more like a gentle nudge.

Enjoy being pushed and guided by your inner self. It will always have your best intentions at heart.

This study was designed to determine whether a physician-delivered bibliotherapy prescription would compare favorably with the prevailing usual care treatment for depression in primary care (that often involves medication) and potentially offer an alternative. Six family physicians were trained to write and deliver prescriptions for cognitive-behavioral bibliotherapy. Thirty-eight patients were randomly assigned to receive either usual care or a behavioral prescription to read the self-help book, Feeling Good (Burns, D. D. (1999). Feeling good: The new mood therapy. New York: HarperCollins). The treatment groups did not differ in terms of overall outcome variables. Patients in both treatment groups reported statistically significant decreases in depression symptoms, decreases in dysfunctional attitudes, and increases in quality of life. Although not statistically significant, the mean net medical expenses in the behavioral prescription group were substantially less. This study provided empirical evidence that a behavioral prescription for Feeling Good may be as effective as standard care, which commonly involves an antidepressant prescription.