Feeling Good
Feeling Good by David Burnsby David Burns
Shares rank 16 of 22 self-help books by recommenders
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.
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.
3 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 3
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 2 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 3 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 2 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Recognizing negative feelings often don't come first
“An effective form of 'treatment' for depression/anxiety is to recognize that negative feels often don't come first”
Comment from 22 Jul 2026 in “The Price of Happiness” Simple, well done, and effective
“I found it simple and very well done - and quite effective.”
Comment from 10 Dec 2025 in “New benchmark shows top LLMs struggle in real mental health care”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Oversimplified and off-putting
“true but oversimplified to the point of being off-putting”
Comment from 22 Jul 2026 in “The Price of Happiness”
Other self-help books people recommend
The four most recommended other self-help books, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| How to Win Friends and Influence Peopleby Dale Carnegie | 67 | 25 | 73% | 11 | — | Approved |
| Atomic Habitsby James Clear | 20 | 2 | 91% | 11 | — | Approved |
| The Easy Way to Stop Smokingby Allen Carr | 9 | 0 | 100% | 4 | — | — |
| Feeling Goodby David Burns | 8 | 0 | 100% | 5 | — | — |
| Feeling Goodby David BurnsThis page | 3 | 0 | 100% | 2 | — | — |
What people said
3 of the 4 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“true but oversimplified to the point of being off-putting”
“An effective form of 'treatment' for depression/anxiety is to recognize that negative feels often don't come first”
“I found it simple and very well done - and quite effective.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.