Customer Reviews

Understanding Depression: What We Know and What You Can Do About It

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After I had seen a therapist and progressed through weeks of beneficial treatment, I set out on my own to search for more helpful information. I was going to buy this book in the bookstore; I had in hand, but declined to purchase it. After borrowing it from a library and giving it a closer look I am mighty glad that I didn't waste my money. Because this book basically offered me nothing I didn't already know or already understood about my depression experience. Nor did it present anything I was remotely interested in because its subject content is extremely broad, including all manifestations of severe depressive disorders, treatments and medical occupations mostly irrelevant to me. Needless to say, I ended up skimming chapters from start to finish.

This massing of material gives it a textbook feel. Made even more evident in how the author remains rather speculative or skeptical; basically sticking to proven facts, dwelling immensely on history, boring statistics and the biological science of depression to a point of near confusion. The author seems to play it safe and skirts the edge with no clear expression on any strongly opinionated side of issues like those concerning "alternative" treatments. Mainly remaining on neutral ground and bouncing back 'n forth. The author also goes the long, descriptive and complicated way about saying very little and is extremely repetitive. What surfaces continuously is how the author claims that what we know and understand about depression is actually very diminutive and not really clear. Though this is true and certainlly what we know now is a lot more than what we knew twenty years ago. But actually all of this got to be quite draining. Also not to mention how the book seems to present no real strong sense of what a common person afflicted with depression can do about it other than what they probably have conventionally done already.

The book is contradictive and inappropriately titled. To me it seems written more so for those studying in a professional, specialized and advanced field significant to technically improving depressive illnesses. Plus the author dwells quite a bit on his own method of practice. I was quite dissatisfied and unimpressed with this book and would not recommend it, especially not to someone currently struggling through a severe depression of any kind.

This is one of the most thorough books on depression that I've read. I don't agree with one of the other reviewers who stated that those who are very familiar with depression may not learn too much from this book- it covers so much territory that novices and experts alike will surely learn quite a bit. The quality of writing is quite high, though some sections could possibly have been shortened. The organization of the book is pretty straightforward and intuitive, and I found this to be a smooth and easy read. My biggest criticism is that I would have liked to see the author open up a little more with more insider tips and idiosyncratic findings, rather than tending a little more toward reserved generalities. Nonetheless, the book is still quite detailed and well worth reading if you're interested at all in the subject of depression. Avery Z. Conner, author of "Fevers of the Mind".

There is a pretty good overview of the popular treatments for depression. But nothing new here.For better help in getting out from under depression I recommend the book Depression is a Choice by A. B. Curtiss.

This is not a bad book, all in all. It covers a lot of useful territory, and for someone recently diagnosed who doesn't know a lot about depression, it might be a decent place to start. But, for those of us who are not starting from scratch, this book doesn't add much, if anything, to better books already out, and it falls short of the mark in some important ways.

My gripes with this book fall into two main categories. First, the book lacks detail in critical areas. For example, in the section on medications, there is only a passing reference to the sexual side effects of the SSRIs, and there is no discussion of how patients can deal with that problem -- i.e. reduce dosage, switch to another medication, augment the SSRI with another drug, etc. The author should know that sexual side effects like anorgasmia and reduced libido affect a huge percentage of people who take SSRIs, and that these side effects diminish the quality of many patients' lives and create serious compliance problems. I'm shocked that this important subject is given such cursory treatment. The section on meds also lacks details concerning dosages, augmentation, and withdrawal, important topics all. So much for the book jacket promise of a "cutting edge" discussion of medications! At the same time, the book is fairly long, and probably not an easy read for someone truly suffering from depression. If a reader is expected to plow through this much text, he or she should at least be rewarded with more detail and "state of the art" information, as promised.

Second, there are some pretty egregious errors in the medication sections. The charts covering various meds are a great idea, and they could be very useful, but they are replete with mistakes. Drug names are misspelled ("maclobemide" instead of moclobemide, "tobomax" instead of Topomax, for example) and the generic and brand names are sometimes flip-flopped (see "tobomax" and Lamictal for example). There is just no excuse for the sloppy, inaccurate charts. Didn't SOMEBODY who knew SOMETHING about these meds PROOFREAD this section? I really couldn't recommend this book to someone suffering from depression knowing that there are significant, obvious errors like this. I'd lack confidence that the rest of the book was more carefully written and edited.

I should confess that I was induced to pick up this book because of the promise of "cutting edge" info on meds, so that's where I started reading. The other sections, which I skimmed, looked pretty run of the mill, although I might feel differently upon a closer reading -- which won't be happening due to the other flaws noted above.

There is some good information here and perhaps the book will appeal to some readers. But, in my view, the book has some significant flaws, and it really doesn't add anything to a field that's already fairly crowded with better books.

"Understanding Depression" is going to help so many people understand this awful disease. It's helped me learn about the different types of depression, the treatments available to help, and most importantly it has given me hope that despite the pain of this disease, many people can and have recovered from it.

Most people don't realize how many Americans suffer from depression. This is the best book on the subject that I've ever read. It covers everything from manic depression to bipolar disorders and even offers treatment advice. It's as comprehensive as a book can get. A perfect read for those actually suffering from depression, and also, their families and loved ones.