A book that really helped me!

Feathers

Well-known member
Hey Klaus, took a brief look there - it's maybe better if you don't post direct links or talk about torrents... This site has a bit strict rules about advertising and such... And maybe you can write a bit more, like a 'review'/personal opinion?

Are you from England and went to a therapist practising the approach described there too?
Or did you just read the book and it was helpful? In what ways?
Did it help change your outlook on things or make direct changes in your life...? (And what kind of changes?)

Did you read any other books or tried any other approaches too?
Some of us are familiar with CBT, ACT and some other approaches, so it would be good to compare ideas and info a bit...
 

Klaus

Well-known member
I'm interested in how exactly it defines depression?

This is crucial to me, if it is not aiming at the right symptoms of depression as we know it then there would not be any point.

I am not satisfied though with giving away new terms for every small idea people come up with, and I'm referring to the title "Human Givens Approach".

Can you provide some more details about the book, Klaus? and what kind of help it provided you with?

I finally understood what depression is, that was the KEY for me, and the skills you learn you can also apply for social anxiety moments, like a breath respiration that you take 7 second breathing in and 11 seconds breathing out.

The book has many helpful information like this: YouTube - ‪Too much REM sleep: why do depressed people wake up exhausted?‬‏ (It's the author)
 

Klaus

Well-known member
Hey Klaus, took a brief look there - it's maybe better if you don't post direct links or talk about torrents... This site has a bit strict rules about advertising and such... And maybe you can write a bit more, like a 'review'/personal opinion?

Are you from England and went to a therapist practising the approach described there too?
Or did you just read the book and it was helpful? In what ways?
Did it help change your outlook on things or make direct changes in your life...? (And what kind of changes?)

Did you read any other books or tried any other approaches too?
Some of us are familiar with CBT, ACT and some other approaches, so it would be good to compare ideas and info a bit...

I was googling about depression and sleep because my sleep pattern is very disturbed, and searching inside depression forums and depression related webpages I finally found this book.
I'm not from England and no store sells this book in my country, so I download it and read it. I'm familiar with ACT and CBT, ACT helped me a little bit, CBT helped nothing at all, actually it made my condition worst. This book is an opposite approach from ACT, it says you don't need to feel pain at all to feel better.
This book made direct changes in my life, I can say I'm not a depressed person anymore, just social phobic.
And my intention is not to "sell" the book or to support piracy, Remus can just delete this topic if he wants...
 
Looks interesting, I can relate to what they call Human Givens -

From wikipedia:
The basic assumptions of the Human Givens approach are that humans have evolved innate physical and emotional needs called ‘human givens’. Human beings instinctively seek to meet these needs in their environment. When a person’s innate needs are met in the environment, he or she will flourish. When these needs are not met in a balanced way, mental distress results. The focus of the therapy is the discovery and rectification of any blocks to these needs being met. The emotional needs include:

  • Security – safe territory and an environment which allows full maturity and development
  • Attention (to give and receive it) – a form of "mental nutrition
  • Sense of autonomy and control – having volition to make responsible choices
  • Being emotionally connected to others
  • Feeling part of a wider community
  • Friendship and intimacy with someone who is accepting of the total person, flaws included
  • Privacy – opportunity to reflect and consolidate experience
  • Sense of status within social groupings
  • Sense of competence and achievement
  • Meaning and purpose
Human Givens - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 

Feathers

Well-known member
Yeah, looks interesting. Wikipedia says it's eclectic and uses CBT etc too...
(I personally have found CBT helpful, via books and journalling...)

It would be interesting to learn more about this, yeah. Klaus, what specific changes have you made as a result of this? Less sleep and going to sleep more early, no computer or TV before sleep or...?
 

Klaus

Well-known member
Yeah, looks interesting. Wikipedia says it's eclectic and uses CBT etc too...
(I personally have found CBT helpful, via books and journalling...)

It would be interesting to learn more about this, yeah. Klaus, what specific changes have you made as a result of this? Less sleep and going to sleep more early, no computer or TV before sleep or...?

The book doesn't have many tips about improving sleep patterns, it just explains what happens with our sleep when we are depressed, like: "why do we don't want to leave bed in the morning but doesn't want to go to bed at night?"

I'm not avoiding to go to sleep anymore at night, I used to do that due to "manic" episodes. The more worries you have in the day, the worst your night will be.

A very important thing the book says is about Black and White thinking, I will copy a very small part of the book here, I hope I'm not doing something illegal:

"Black-and-white thinking"

People in the grip of depression tend to think in either/or,
black-or-white, all-or-nothing terms. For instance, someone
who is depressed might wake up late and think, "I've overslept;
I can't go to work," instead of ringing to say they will
be delayed or recasting the day's plans in some way to ensure
the necessary work gets done. If a colleague passes in the corridor
without smiling, the depressive person is likely to think,
"He didn't smile at me! He doesn't like me anymore," instead
of considering that the person might have been preoccupied
in thought, fully engaged in conversation with someone else
or not feeling in a good mood himself. If a partner offers a
suggestion for making the doing of some task a little easier,
the depressed person interprets it as a criticism and says
something like, "Well, do it yourself, then!" If one thing goes
wrong, the whole day will be a complete write-off as far as a
person who is depressed is concerned; they will discount or
even forget all the things that went right.
 
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