Ep051 & 052: Dr. David Burns -- Perfectionism? Imposter syndrome? How to Decrease Your Anxiety and Bring More Joy to Your Life!

TODAY’S GUEST

Dr. David Burns is a psychiatrist and author of the best-selling book, Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy, which has sold over 4 million copies in the United States, and many more worldwide. Feeling Good is the book most frequently “prescribed” for depressed patients by psychiatrists and psychologists in the United States and Canada. He has written a sequel entitled Feeling Great – The Revolutionary New Treatment for Depression and Anxiety expected to be released September 15, 2020.

WHAT WILL WE LEARN

If you have depression it is not what is wrong with you, but what is right with you.
—Dr. Burns

Ep051: Cope with Depression

If you feel depressed, you can have a lot of sleep problems. You can have trouble falling asleep and staying asleep. You do not feel refreshed in the morning and you can feel sleepy in the daytime.

What is depression?
What does it look like?
Can we do anything about it?

People who have social anxiety feel ashamed. Those who experience panic attacks or have OCD feel like something is wrong with them. There is still a lot of stigmas related to depression. Things have improved, but there is a need for more education and access to mental health resources.

The standard approach to therapy is there is something wrong with you and the therapist's job is to fix you with psychotherapy and possibly medication.

There is a transition to a positive approach. If you have depression it is not what is wrong with you, but what is right with you. This thought process increases recovery time

Ep052: Perfectionism? Imposter syndrome? How to Decrease Your Anxiety and Bring More Joy to Your Life!

Many people are anxious about their life and their work. This can cause trouble falling asleep or staying asleep. If we don’t sleep well for days or weeks we may start to worry about our sleep, our health, and our daily functioning. And it is very likely our sleep will get worse.

What is anxiety?
What can we do about anxiety?
What can family/friends do about anxiety?

Dr. Burns shares his personal experience in overcoming public speaking. He also addresses our tendency toward perfectionism and feeling that your worth is equal to your achievements. He proves excellent suggestions for family and friends on how they can best support people around them who are suffering from anxiety or depression.

Dr. Burns has several free resources on his website including two free tests for anxiety and depression as well as two, free, unpublished chapters from his new book that address habits and addictions.

Many people try to fix someone experiencing anxiety. This is not helpful. They need to show empathy. We will learn the three things needed to show empathy.