Happiness? What's that?
I've been in therapy for many years (about 26 years on and off) for complex PTSD. I've tried talking, Gestalt, CBT, medication and I've even had Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS). The one that has worked best for me is DBT - Dialectical Behavioural Therapy. But it's hard and complex and I practice it every day.
I've read many self help books, some wishy washy and some hard core text books. The one I read a couple of years ago that actually made sense and gave me lots of "a-ha!" moments was The Happiness Trap by Dr Russ Harris. It's based on ACT - Acceptance and Commitment Therapy which kind of dovetails nicely into DBT. They don't contradict each other the way CBT and DBT can.
It's written in a way that's easy to understand and explains why our minds work they way they do. It describes various happiness myths and how we get so caught up in them. It's not a cancer survivor specific book but I think there is a lot of transferable information in there. It's written in a very conversational way and has lots of activities. And it doesn't promise a happily ever after. It take the very sensible approach of try, fail, try, fail, try again, fail again, try one more time....
After reading a lot of comments here, I get that sense that a lot of people are asking, what now? What next? How do I move forward? Why can't I go back to my old life? Why am I stuck with a body that is barely holding together and doesn't work like it should?
What this book is advocating is looking at your life and working out what are your values? How do you live a life that's consistent with those values? I think for a lot of us, having such an earth shattering disease that has completely disrupted a life that was going along just fine thank you very much, has thrown everything into chaos and turmoil. So what do we do to just get through the next day, hour, minute? And for me, like I didn't have enough physical and mental health problems already....sure chuck some bc in there as well, why the hell not?? It's not like my other issues make it hard enough to just get out of bed.
I wouldn't recommend the book to anyone going through active treatment. Just keep your head down and plough through. But for those now in the "survivor" mode, perhaps this is something you might want to take a look at.
The book is available in council libraries. Dr Harris also has a website with some free resources on it.
https://thehappinesstrap.com/
https://thehappinesstrap.com/free-resources/
Here's an excerpt from the book. https://www.actmindfully.com.au/upimages/The_Happiness_Trap_-_Introduction_and_Chapter_one.pdf
He also has lots of short and long videos on YouTube if you search on his name.
Has anyone else come across any other books they would recommend?
I've read many self help books, some wishy washy and some hard core text books. The one I read a couple of years ago that actually made sense and gave me lots of "a-ha!" moments was The Happiness Trap by Dr Russ Harris. It's based on ACT - Acceptance and Commitment Therapy which kind of dovetails nicely into DBT. They don't contradict each other the way CBT and DBT can.
It's written in a way that's easy to understand and explains why our minds work they way they do. It describes various happiness myths and how we get so caught up in them. It's not a cancer survivor specific book but I think there is a lot of transferable information in there. It's written in a very conversational way and has lots of activities. And it doesn't promise a happily ever after. It take the very sensible approach of try, fail, try, fail, try again, fail again, try one more time....
After reading a lot of comments here, I get that sense that a lot of people are asking, what now? What next? How do I move forward? Why can't I go back to my old life? Why am I stuck with a body that is barely holding together and doesn't work like it should?
What this book is advocating is looking at your life and working out what are your values? How do you live a life that's consistent with those values? I think for a lot of us, having such an earth shattering disease that has completely disrupted a life that was going along just fine thank you very much, has thrown everything into chaos and turmoil. So what do we do to just get through the next day, hour, minute? And for me, like I didn't have enough physical and mental health problems already....sure chuck some bc in there as well, why the hell not?? It's not like my other issues make it hard enough to just get out of bed.
I wouldn't recommend the book to anyone going through active treatment. Just keep your head down and plough through. But for those now in the "survivor" mode, perhaps this is something you might want to take a look at.
The book is available in council libraries. Dr Harris also has a website with some free resources on it.
https://thehappinesstrap.com/
https://thehappinesstrap.com/free-resources/
Here's an excerpt from the book. https://www.actmindfully.com.au/upimages/The_Happiness_Trap_-_Introduction_and_Chapter_one.pdf
He also has lots of short and long videos on YouTube if you search on his name.
Has anyone else come across any other books they would recommend?
