# New Self Help Book -- "Hardwiring Happiness" - Rick Hanson, Ph.D.



## Guest (Sep 12, 2013)

I am partial to Rick Hanson's work. His wonderful book, "Buddha's Brain" is a fascinating scientific look into how we do have some control of making things easier for ourselves.

I love his workbook "Just One Thing" -- which you can literally read out of order and focus on having more control over negativity.

The new book is NOT about DP/DR really, but how we tend to dwell on the negative and how to control that. If you preorder you save a bundle of money. I would buy the physical book, not a Kindle copy or download, as it is the type of book you want to thumb through.

Also, apparently ordering early includes a DVD of his lectures -- at least this was offered to me as I subscribe to his email messages, which are also on uplifting topics.

*Hardwiring Happiness *-- coming out October 8. Preorder for a big bargain.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0385347316/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0385347316&linkCode=as2&tag=wwwrickhanson-20

*"Why is it easier to ruminate over hurt feelings than it is to bask in the warmth of feeling loved? Your brain was wired in such a way when it evolved, primed to learn quickly from bad experiences, but not so much from the good ones. It's an ancient survival mechanism that turned the brain into Velcro for the negative, but Teflon for the positive."*

Rick Hanson, Ph.dD.
Author of Buddha's Brain

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I have been a "negative thinker" since childhood. As usual I could have used this book, or these techniques as a young girl. If anything, this approach is logical, simple, and literally helps "rewire" ... it is NOT a "cure" for anything. But another tool that can help us more I'd say with anxiety.


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## googleeyes (Apr 25, 2012)

I'm going to piggyback this thread to mention my own favourite book;

Hope and help for your nerves by Claire Weekes

She only mentions depersonalization in passing in her book, but her coping techniques and insight into anxious suffering makes it well worth the read. Her method was so highly regarded she was actually nominated for a Nobel Prize in Medicine.

A short summary of Claire:

She was concerned by the severe long-term effect the disorders had on her patients' lives and by the failure of psychiatric treatments such as psychoanalysis, that many had tried. Instead, she developed a program of treatment based on ideas from cognitive and behavioral psychology. She noted, for example that patients did not suffer from these problems because they had flawed personalities or traumatic childhoods. Rather, the problems were caused by the patient having a habit of fear-avoidance, made worse, or caused, by a very responsive "sensitized" nervous system.

Her program was first given to her own patients and then, as word spread of its success, to others in the form of records and cassette tapes. Eventually, she developed a self-help pack consisting of a book and cassette, with Claire Weekes guiding patients through a program. She has summarized this program as follows; facing the feared situation, accepting the feeling of panic, floating through it, and letting time pass.

Her first book, published in 1962 was called _Self Help For Your Nerves_ (Hope and Help for Your Nerves in the US); this book has sold more than 300,000 copies, and has been translated into eight languages. Her second book, _Peace from Nervous Suffering_ was published in 1972. Her third book, _Simple Effective Treatment of Agoraphopia_ was published in 1976. Her fourth book _More Help for Your Nerves_ was published in 1984. Her fifth and final book _The Latest Help for Your Nerves_ was published in 1989, just one year before her death.

Before her death in 1990, Dr Weekes requested that her works remain readily available worldwide.

Dr Weekes was the first woman to obtain a Doctor of Science degree at the University of Sydney Australia.

She went into medicine, culminating in being elected a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians.

Being both a scientist and a physician made Dr Weekes an excellent diagnostician.

Dr Weekes pioneered a world renowned method of giving you back control over your state of mind.

Her books, audio and video recording are recommended by doctors and are currently used in treatment centres worldwide.

The strength of her step by step method comes from clinical analysis and her belief that the mind and body react together.

She believed that nervous illness can begin very simply, developing from stress and nervous fatigue, to produce a pattern of symptoms which can become more frightening than the original cause.


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