Fred Friedberg

Not bad. Although I skipped over A LOT of the information. My problem with self-help books is that there is often too much "information" included in the books. I want to know the facts and what I can do. I don't need a lot of testimonials. I don't want to know the dirt on so and so and how these proven exercises can help.

What I want to know is what to do and how it will help. This book, albeit short as it is, still had too much of the stuff I didn't want or need to know.

There was really only one chapter that I got any real good suggestions from - Chapter 7: Step One, Using Active, Extended Relaxation. He encourages FM and CFS patients to take up the practice of meditation. He makes suggestions for how to do this. He also gives a good relaxation technique - tightening and loosening the body's muscles one by one and feeling the difference between the tension and the relaxtion.

One of the big treatments FM and CFS patients can do is de-stress their lives. He talks about this a lot but doesn't really give a whole lot of suggestions or ideas on how to do that. Or he does and I just don't fit his mold. Most of my stress is work related. Part of my stress is how I react to some difficult situations when they arise, and other stressors is the job itself. I can change my attitude but I can't change my job.

Ultimately I'm in customer service - I work with people who are applying to my department at a major university. I have to answer their questions - which is often the same question over and over and over again - answer email and phones. I've learned how to handle the email stress - I only check my email three times a day instead of leaving it on all the time. I have stock answers for some of the repetitive questions. It's how I deal with the truly stupid that I have a hard time with.

Anyway, it's stressful in other ways too, but my customer service skills are awful. The author doesn't really address how to handle dealing with stress that arises from dealing with other people. He mentions anger and being able to release it, but I need something a little more indepth. Maybe I need to find a book about anger mangement *lol*.… (mais)