I suspect anyone who is on one of Ben’s sites knows anxiety and/or depression pretty well up close and personal……………
First, the disclaimer: No way should this book be substituted for competent medical advice for those suffering from severe Anxiety and/or Depression. The best advice: SEE A DOCTOR! The only interest I have in this book is a very satisfied user. I had severe anxiety and severe depression, but I’m much better now.
As background, about a decade ago, my wife had been dealing with her cerebral AVM for 10 years, and had endured very successful treatment obliterating her AVM, but it took two rounds of radiation, four rounds of embolizations, surgery to fix a newly discovered brain aneurysm, and another surgery to remove the last of the brain AVM.
Our Son, who had been battling epileptic seizures since middle school, was now in year two of college, and the seizures were getting worse. None of the dozen or so medications he’d tried were working; He was considering brain surgery to stop the seizures.
The same month he was looking at surgery, the company I had been with for 24 years had been sold. While I was offered a position with the new company, I would have lost a lot of benefits, in the neighborhood of $120K - $180K (that’s a nice neighborhood, right?). Not too much stress, huh?
I didn’t realize how severe my issues were! I did know I was under a lot of STRESS, but I had no clue how desperate I was. Fortunately, we had a family friend who was an excellent, Christian counselor, so I went to talk with him. We knew him when his daughter was in grade school, as my wife was her teacher, and he was losing his wife to cancer. He KNEW stress! At first, I couldn’t even pinpoint what was causing all my stress, anxiety, and depression. About the 3rd session, I finally started grasping what all this ‘stuff’ was doing to me.
The counselor suggested I read Dr. Burns book and Handbook, which I did. [Just buy the Handbook—the other is just a rehash.]
Looking at the book, which is a full 2 inches thick, written by a doctor, the GROANS are everywhere. But this book is well laid out, and can easily be read front to back, or just pick the chapters that are pertinent to your situation. The copy I have is the revised edition, dated 1999.
In the chapter “How to measure your Moods”, he offers a questionnaire on anxiety (pg 32) and one on depression (pg 45). You respond to each question with a number 0-3. Add up your points, and it will suggest if you have an issue with anxiety/depression, and whether it is normal, mild, severe, or extreme.
I found suggestions offered in his book helpful for me to control my stress better and help me deal with all that was happening around me.
Taking the questionnaire once probably doesn’t help much, but over time, I believe it can show you if you are feeling better, about the same, or (hopefully not) getting worse.
During my severe time, I took it about quarterly. Now I take it yearly or whenever I run across it again. If you write your answers on a separate paper, you can retake it and not be influenced with how you answered it last time. Being a geek, I wrote it out on excel and just hide the past columns, retake the test, let excel total it, then compare how it’s different from previous tests.
Hope this helps.
Ron, KS