A Critique of the Book "Feeling Good" by David Burns

Essay by Ollie GejevskiUniversity, Bachelor'sA-, April 1996

download word file, 10 pages 3.5

In the book Feeling Good , David Burns, MD, the author, outlines certain cognitive techniques an individual suffering from depression could use in combating the disorder. He begins the book by briefly describing the pertinence and the prevalence of depression. The author captures the audience's attention in the first paragraph: ' In fact depression is so widespread it is considered the common cold of psychiatric disturbances' (Burns, 1992) p. 9. Burns(1992), continues to suggest that the difference between the common cold and depression lies in the fact that depression is lethal. Irwing and Barbara Serason (1996) suggest that at least 90 percent of all suicide victims suffer from a diagnosable psychiatric disorder at the time of their death. Irwing and Barbara Serason (1996) also state that one of the risk factors in committing suicide is the presence of mood disorder. Silverman (1993) states that suicide among young people 15 to 19 years of age has increased by 30 percent from the years 1980 to 1990.

In my opinion David Burns brings up a valid issue in addressing the pertinence of depression as it pertains to peoples tendencies of committing a suicide; other academics have agreed with the same findings. However these academics have not specifically stated that depression is the only risk factor of committing a suicide. They did not even suggest that depression is the heighest weighted risk factor in committing a suicide. The impression the reader gets after reading the introductory paragraph of the Feeling Good book is that severe depression will inevitably result in suicide unless it is cured. Implying that if a person has a depressive disorder, it will lead to a suicide can be dangerous and counterproductive for a person who already feels hopeless; this may reaffirm their belief of hopelessness and the inevitability of...