# Feeling Great by David Burns

Hacker Approved page: https://hackerapproved.com/p/feeling-great/

2 people recommended Feeling Great by David Burns in Hacker News comments, 1 had mixed feelings and none criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 2 of 12 months, in 2 threads. It does not meet the Hacker Approved badge rule.

1 of the 2 people who recommend it commented in one thread, “New benchmark shows top LLMs struggle in real mental health care”.

**Verdict:** Recommended for a simple, effective approach to depression and anxiety: recognizing that negative feelings often don't come first. Some find it oversimplified and off-putting.

Summary written by Claude from 3 comments.

## Why people recommend it

- Recognizing negative feelings often don't come first (1 comment in the sample): "An effective form of 'treatment' for depression/anxiety is to recognize that negative feels often don't come first" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49008446))
- Simple, well done, and effective (1 comment in the sample): "I found it simple and very well done - and quite effective." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46219136))

## What people warn about

- Oversimplified and off-putting (1 comment in the sample): "true but oversimplified to the point of being off-putting" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49010293))

## Other self-help books people recommend

- [How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie](https://hackerapproved.com/p/how-to-win-friends-and-influence-people/): 50 recommend, 13 mixed, 23 criticize
- [Atomic Habits by James Clear](https://hackerapproved.com/p/atomic-habits/): 18 recommend, 1 mixed, 2 criticize
- [The Easy Way to Stop Smoking by Allen Carr](https://hackerapproved.com/p/easy-way-to-stop-smoking/): 8 recommend, 1 mixed, 0 criticize
- [Feeling Good by David Burns](https://hackerapproved.com/p/feeling-good/): 7 recommend, 0 mixed, 0 criticize

## The badge

A product earns the Hacker Approved badge when at least 10 people recommend it, recommenders outnumber critics at least 2 to 1 (mixed feelings count toward neither side), it was recommended in at least 4 of the 12 months and in at least 5 different threads, and no single thread supplies more than half of the people who recommend it. Health and money products are never badged.

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Feeling Great by David Burns", https://hackerapproved.com/p/feeling-great/ (2 recommend, 1 mixed, 0 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026).

Counts updated 2 Nov 2026, with data through October 31, 2026.