F*ck Feelings
Michael Bennett, MD
2015, 384 pages
Nonfiction
Sometimes, life sucks. For everybody. And, when it does, we all look for easy solutions to all our problems. We revere big names like Oprah and Doctor Phil, and I won’t even get started on magazine covers. If you’ve tried, though, and these sources ain’t cutting it – if you’re done with empty promises and the phony self-help craze, F*ck Feelings is an absolute must-read.
This book could help you. It has strong, solid, practical advice from a professional psychiatrist. However, what it will not do is promise you easy solutions. It makes no claims about making you smarter, or less lazy, more disciplined, etc. It does not promise you the power to change the nature of any problem people in your life, either. What it does offer is insight into your own nature and the nature of those around you. F*ck Feelings can help you determine what you control and what you don’t in your own life, and it gives realistic advice on how to manage and live with what you can’t change.
Some of the topics F*ck Feelings covers are: dealing with loss and heartbreak; dealing with unhealthy habits and tendencies, including but certainly not limited to addiction; dealing with grief, anxiety and depression in yourself or a loved one; and dealing with some of the most difficult aspects of parenting and other relationships. It explores multiple approaches to many problems and makes clear, realistic suggestions about how to change what you can and accept what you cannot.
If you are looking for a mini therapy session in a book with evidence-based help for yourself, from an experienced professional, I highly recommend F*ck Feelings. As an aside, it goes very well with Sam Harris’s book Free Will.
Ingrid CullenConcord Public Library
Visit CPL at concordpubliclibrary.net.
