Best self help books you've read

berliner

Did it work?:rolleyes::rolleyes:

berliner

Anyone???? C'mon.anyone read books here

berliner

ok,this is obviously a non runner.wort a shot anyway.

Diairist

if it's something you want to dig into start with SHAM by Steve Salerno. He studied the market in USA and found the self-help book-buying public had same habits as Civil War buffs. If they buy a book, they'll buy another 18 months later, probably a more expensive one. His point is the buyer doesn't get 'fixed' and buys another.

This seems accurate:
http://www.bookbrowse.com/reviews/index.cfm?book_number=1619

Signed: still not fixed.

p.pete

I quite liked the alchemist, though it's not stricktly in the category of self help. I dipped into a few different ones without fully reading any - they're all mostly the same as far as I've read.
Mans Search for Meaning was good while talking about his struggle through the concentration camp but he lost me when he tried applying his experience into a philosophy for life.

Here's amazon's best selling - there's reviews on there

http://www.amazon.co.uk/b/ref=amb_link_44134265_10?ie=UTF8&node=275645&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=left-1&pf_rd_r=00GGPCHB2E8MAY07EAHZ&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=147241791&pf_rd_i=61

eoghan h

Ya The Alchemist is brilliant - wouldn't really classify it as self help though but the book is incredible!

7 habits books were sh1te

Kevster

Asperger's Syndrome: A Guide for Parents & Professionals
http://www.amazon.com/Aspergers-Syndrome-Guide-Parents-Professionals/dp/1853025771

Dizzyblonde

I have a balance (dizziness) disorder which can make me feel anxious. The best self-help book I've read was Hyperventilation Syndrome by Dinah Bradley. It teaches you how to breathe properly so when you're feeling anxious you don't overbreathe

elbee

Diairist wrote: »

if it's something you want to dig into start with SHAM by Steve Salerno. He studied the market in USA and found the self-help book-buying public had same habits as Civil War buffs. If they buy a book, they'll buy another 18 months later, probably a more expensive one. His point is the buyer doesn't get 'fixed' and buys another.

This seems accurate:
http://www.bookbrowse.com/reviews/index.cfm?book_number=1619

Signed: still not fixed.

That book is excellent. I've taken it out of the library twice so far and I'm thinking of either borrowing it a third time or just buying it.

Hellm0

"The Game" by Neil Strauss
"The Consolations of Philosophy" by Alain De Botton
"The Prince" by Niccolo Machiavelli
"The Red Queen" by Matt Ridley

All of the above are great books to get you out of a slump(depending on the nature of the slump). Also they are great self improvement books which have helped me become the god amongst men that I obviously am. Rawwrr

MysticalSoul

Man's Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl was fab

berliner

I bought the 7 habits of highly effective people last week.I'm up to page 70 and i'm none the wiser.Got great reviews on amazon.I'm gonna stick with it because it cost me €20.

18AD

Undoing Yourself With Energized Meditation and Other Devices (Paperback)
by Christopher Hyatt.

Outstanding. Not for the faint of heart.
AD.

JuliusCaesar

Diairist wrote: »

if it's something you want to dig into start with SHAM by Steve Salerno. He studied the market in USA and found the self-help book-buying public had same habits as Civil War buffs. If they buy a book, they'll buy another 18 months later, probably a more expensive one. His point is the buyer doesn't get 'fixed' and buys another.

This seems accurate:
http://www.bookbrowse.com/reviews/index.cfm?book_number=1619

Signed: still not fixed.

Along the same lines:

Tama Dineen 1999 Manufacturing Victims: what the psychology industry is doing to people (Constable)

Frank Furedi 2004 Therapy Culture: cultivating vulnerability in an uncertain age. (Routledge)

For clients I often recommend Claire Weeks' Self-help for your nerves' and the Robinsons Overcoming series (overcoming ocd, overcoming depression, ovecoming low self-esteem etc)

For myself - not self-help! - Power & Brewin - The transformation of Meaning in Psychological Therapies
Goleman's Emotional Intelligence
Ellen Langer - Mindfulness
Deborah Tannen - You just don't understand.

kelly1979

as a long time sufferer of anxiety and panic attacks have to say that Aine Tubridys book 'When Panic Attacks' is by far the best book on this subject that i have ever read (and i have read a lot of them;))
wished this was the first book i had read on the subject. if you know of anyone suffering with anxiety and panic, seriously get them this book

okgirl

irishamethyst wrote: »

Man's Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl was fab

+1. excellent read. I borrowed it last summer and found it great.

cathy01

Fingal coco have joined up wth HSE to provide self help books free via Balbriggan librery. just for your info.
cathy

Geometric_Jon

"as a long time sufferer of anxiety and panic attacks have to say that Aine Tubridys book 'When Panic Attacks' is by far the best book on this subject that i have ever read (and i have read a lot of them)
wished this was the first book i had read on the subject. if you know of anyone suffering with anxiety and panic, seriously get them this book"

My girlfriend tried this book, and didn't find it helpful. I must note that she didn't finish it. Obviously you'd recommend trying it again, but do you have any other advice?

Geometric_Jon

Oh ya, how do people do the quote thingy? Kinda new around here.

p.pete

Geometric_Jon wrote: »

Oh ya, how do people do the quote thingy? Kinda new around here.

you mean like this? there's a button under the person's post that you want to quote that starts you off with the tags needed - and then you edit which part you want to quote.

blackhead

as a long time sufferer of anxiety and panic attacks have to say that Aine Tubridys book 'When Panic Attacks' is by far the best book on this subject that i have ever read (and i have read a lot of them)
wished this was the first book i had read on the subject. if you know of anyone suffering with anxiety and panic, seriously get them this book

I found that book really hopeless, it was recommended to me by a friend wroking in nutrition and natural remedies. All that stuff about centering, way too airy fairy for my liking, I found it quite patronising too.

I suffered from anxiety a few years back and found the following book a Godsend. I read about 4 books altogether and found this one amazing.

Embracing the Fear: Learning to Manage Anxiety and Panic Attacks (Paperback)
by Judith Bemis (Author), Amr Barrada (Author)

It had really good coping techniques of how to react when panic setin. I also went to a psychotherapist, which I found really useful and ultimately haven't suffered at all in the last 18 months .
Would highly recommend this book.

MysticalSoul

I am currently reading Conversatoins with God by Neale Donald Walshe - it challenges the belief systems that come from the Church. It does tend to be controversial bacause of that, but also because of the overall theme

Kama

Prometheus Rising and Quantum Psychology by Robert Anton Wilson.
Without these books I might not even be here, or if I was in a much less present form. It takes work, but is lifechanging, and is especially recommended to anyone (like me) who was born with a broad streak of cynical rationalism which means more New Age approaches aren't digestable.

berliner

Some interesting books mentioned here so far...:)

Babooshka

I read "Feel the fear and do it anyway" by Susan jeffers years ago after my sis told me it was possibly the best one she'd read. I tend to agree with her, the way it's worded is quite no nonsense, solid, help...I thought:o

And then "The Artist's Way" by Julia Cameron. I found it good, there's a bit more "work" to do (ironically it takes work to get you to "play" as is promoted in the book) but if you do the excercises and learn to begin thinking as a child again, it can free up your stresses and woes no end. Oh, and it comes from the view that there's an artist in every one of us, not just the obvious painter / poet /muso types. I didn't last it out through all the excercises (story of my life) but I would probably have taken off and flown away

Is this psychology or literature or both?!!

okgirl

Well at the moment I am carrying a pile of a few books around with me and am dipping in and out of them as the mood takes me. Something to do when waiting for kids to finish school and summer camps.

• The Secret- Rhonda Byrne
• Don't Sweat the Small Stuff- Richard Carlson

These are the 2 dominant ones at the moment but I did pick up Stop thinking Start Living-Richard Carlson in the Library today. Not sure what it is like yet but the other two I can reccommend. Although the Secret is probably one to re read and possibly read with another similar book. You really have to retrain your though process but apparently once you have you will flourish.:):):)

Gibs

Geometric_Jon wrote: »

"as a long time sufferer of anxiety and panic attacks have to say that Aine Tubridys book 'When Panic Attacks' is by far the best book on this subject that i have ever read (and i have read a lot of them)
wished this was the first book i had read on the subject. if you know of anyone suffering with anxiety and panic, seriously get them this book"

My girlfriend tried this book, and didn't find it helpful. I must note that she didn't finish it. Obviously you'd recommend trying it again, but do you have any other advice?

Hi Jon,

One of the best self-help books re anxiety and panic attacks is the Anxiety and Phobia Workbook by Edmund Bourne. The fact that it has sold over 600,000 copies and is in its 4th edition says it all

Ed Bourne has a very useful website with some good info on anxiety disorders and appropriate treatment. You can find it here

An alternative, but equally good book, written by the two pioneers in the field of panic disorder and other anxiety disorders, David Barlow and Michelle Craske, is called Mastery of your anxiety and Panic. It's also in its 4th edition.

Your girlfriend should consider attending a professional if she continues to experience panic attacks. Just make sure that the professional uses an evidence-based approach. The treatment of choice is a CBT approach that includes anxiety management and exposure treatment. Some SSRI medications have also been found to be effective for certain presentations.

Good to keep in mind that panic attacks are not a diagnosable entity in and of themselves. Many different anxiety disorders can be associated with panic attacks so it is important to understand the context in which panic attacks are happening. For example, a person who is afraid of getting panic attacks (and hence may get them without warning in many situations) might be diagnosed with "panic disorder" and will require a different emphasis in treatment than a person who only gets panic attacks in certain situations (for example in social situations).

For that reason, it may be more beneficial to go to see someone who can help your girlfriend to better understand (and hence more effectively treat) her panic attacks.

Stef1979

The best motivational book I ever read and have passed on to loads of people who agree with me is:

Who Moved My Cheese? by Dr. Spencer Johnson

A real eye opener

and its only €8.00 in Eason

RossFixxxed

Way of the Peaceful Warrior by Dan Millman.

I shouldn't like it... but I love it. I'm a total cynic but I really believe this book helped a lot and made me start working on improving myself and making myself happier.

It does have a stupid title though! It's in novel form and NOT to be taken literally. There's also a movie out... But the book is WAY better.

Oh and the 'sequel' that takes place in a gap in the story is pants! I really don't recommend it, a bit too much hippy magic, shamanistic nonscence for me!


Also the Dhammapada, good old buddha knew a lot!

Ross

Belfast

Kevster wrote: »

Asperger's Syndrome: A Guide for Parents & Professionals
http://www.amazon.com/Aspergers-Syndrome-Guide-Parents-Professionals/dp/1853025771

I agree. I read that one too.
It helped me understand the condition. I wish I had it when I was younger.
I helped me understand my brother's conditions and my own.

Belfast

Stef1979 wrote: »

The best motivational book I ever read and have passed on to loads of people who agree with me is:

Who Moved My Cheese? by Dr. Spencer Johnson

A real eye opener

and its only €8.00 in Eason

My boss gave me that one. 12 months later "some one move his cheese" and he was made redundant.
He did not take it well and said to his boss I know what you are going to say and stormed off before she could say anything.