Feel Good: How to Change Your Mood and Cope with Whatever Comes Your Way

Table of contents

1. Cover
2. Endorsements
3. Title page
4. Copyright page
5. Dedication
6. Foreword
7. Preface
8. Acknowledgements
9. About the Authors
10. Chapter 1: “How Are You?”
    1. Why do I experience moods?
    2. A bit about us
    3. Why do you need this book?
    4. Fundamental principles
    5. How you can use this book
    6. Using the “post-it” note technique
    7. Each chapter covers a different type of mood
    8. Myths around mood are harmful
    9. Starting to deal with mood issues begins with respect for yourself
    10. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy may help
    11. A different way of thinking
    12. Moods impact on well-being and health
    13. This book aims to empower you
11. Chapter 2: Challenge Your Thinking
    1. Your beliefs will affect your mood
    2. How to start the search for “why”
    3. Optimism will bring hope for your future
    4. Reasoning has benefits for clear thinking
    5. Your conclusions should rely on evidence
    6. Reasoning is also, unfortunately, prone to bias
    7. There are a host of other biases to avoid
    8. Science uses counterfactuals to explore “why”
    9. “Should” is a word with problems
    10. Evaluating your beliefs to help you to explore your “why” questions
    11. Improving your reasoning
12. Chapter 3: Anger
    1. Signs of anger may be complex and difficult to recognize
    2. Anger becomes a problem when you do not manage it
    3. The five predictors of anger
    4. Men struggle dealing with their anger
    5. Women have more coping mechanisms
    6. Recognizing your anger
    7. Starting to deal with your anger
    8. But I don't get angry!
    9. Dealing with anger by looking for patterns and applying logic
    10. Using considered argument may work
    11. Successful mood management
    12. Be assertive and get your needs met
    13. Offering an explanation to someone does improve the outcome
    14. Dealing with another person's anger
13. Chapter 4: Self-Efficacy
    1. Psychological changes can be explained through changes in self-efficacy
    2. Overall health and self-efficacy are linked
    3. Success in education and your professional life relies on self-efficacy
    4. You can make progress by using learning activities
    5. Seeing and hearing someone else succeed increases your self-efficacy
    6. Physiological states can improve a belief in yourself
    7. Relaxation as self-efficacy
    8. Improving your self-efficacy
14. Chapter 5: Distress
    1. You feel a response to stress in your body
    2. These sensations are important for survival
    3. Your thoughts are critical to kick starting anxiety
    4. Anxiety and your interpretation of risk
    5. Your mind influences your distress
    6. Coping techniques can alleviate distress
    7. Other techniques will also alleviate distress
15. Chapter 6: Unhappiness
    1. But why do I feel this way?
    2. Descriptive words are important
    3. Behavioural symptoms may define your unhappiness
    4. Unhappiness causes physiological symptoms
    5. Mood-related symptoms are common in unhappiness
    6. Unhappiness affects your thoughts or cognitive symptoms
    7. The power of thoughts which fit into your beliefs
    8. Negative beliefs often lead to the practice of failure
    9. Three common negative beliefs in people with low mood
    10. What keeps unhelpful beliefs going?
    11. Aim to change your negative thoughts to more realistic thoughts
16. Chapter 7: Well-Being and Happiness
    1. “P” is for positive emotions which we all wish to experience
    2. “E” is for Engagement in something that gives enjoyment
    3. “R” is for Relationships which are critical to our state of well-being
    4. “M” is for Meaning which gives a larger purpose to life
    5. “A” is for Accomplishment whether it is big or small
    6. Well-being is more than just happiness
    7. Optimism influences a person's well-being
    8. Evaluate your life using the PERMA model at regular intervals
17. Chapter 8: Self-Esteem
    1. Self-awareness is a useful skill
    2. Self-esteem can be improved both from external and internal influences
    3. Developing self-acceptance, both good and bad, will improve self-esteem
    4. The outcomes are up to you
    5. Self-assertiveness is implicit to your human rights
    6. Having purpose in your efforts improves self-esteem
    7. Personal integrity is consistency with your values
    8. Realistic thinking helps your self-esteem
    9. Healthy boundaries protect self-esteem
    10. Measuring improvements will allow you to keep track of progress
18. Chapter 9: Leading a Balanced Lifestyle
    1. The phrase “work-life balance” hides a range of issues
    2. Controlling things you can change
    3. Develop your motivation for change
    4. Build an accurate view of you
    5. Pleasant event scheduling is designed to improve mood
    6. The importance of sleep is underestimated
    7. Strategies for developing better sleep to help well-being
    8. Regular schedules have a role to play in improving mood
    9. Yoga is a metaphor for balance
    10. How do I stay here?
19. Chapter 10: Relaxation Techniques
    1. Relaxation is freedom
    2. There are rules for relaxation
    3. Mindfulness is not about emptying your mind
    4. Seeing things as they are helps you to establish insight
    5. With regular practice these techniques will bring rewards
20. Chapter 11: Where to from Here?
    1. It is important to assess the progress that you have made
    2. You will need to “let go” of old habits
    3. Monitoring progress will help you to prevent relapse
    4. Once progress has been made it needs to be maintained
    5. Recognizing need is what keeps me going
21. Afterword
22. Bibliography and Further Reading
23. Index