Burns on Resistance

David D. Burns, MD, a psychiatrist, has introduced a “resistance table” in his new book, “Feeling Great.” The table covers depression, anxiety, relationship problems, habits, and addictions. It is a grid that describes what recovery looks like for each category. For example, for habits and addictions, recovery might mean eating less, drinking less, using fewer drugs, or stopping procrastination. 

Burns then describes outcome resistance and why you might resist recovery. He asks an important question: Why do you resist recovery? This drives self-awareness. Burns also talks about the particular habit that you might be working on and which has created the greatest source of satisfaction, pleasure, reward, or dopamine hit. He then goes on to talk about the process of how to process resistance and what the price of recovery is. To recover, you’ll have to trade your greatest source of pleasure for discipline and deprivation.

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