Depression Books

Full disclosure here: I'm a holistic doctor, so I'm biased towards natural interventions for mood disorders, and this is stuff that I talk to patients about on an almost daily basis. But I've seldom seen natural therapies for psychological conditions presented in such a balanced, clear, scientific fashion.

I sometimes blanch at the outlandish claims made by some health books that deal with mental conditions. I think they cruelly mislead patients to believe that there's a vitamin or a supplement for every psychiatric complaint. Reinforcing denial is not good for patients at risk to themselves and others. But Jack Challem is versed in the latest science, and never strays far from the evidence in making his case for natural approaches.

There's clearly a place for drugs in the treatment of mental disorders, but I wish books like this got wider circulation because we could relieve untold suffering with a few basic suggestions herein. Studies have actually shown that good self-help books cure sufferers of mild to moderate depression at a rate comparable to that of Zoloft, Paxil and other commonly used drugs. They've even coined a term for it: "Bibliotherapy"!

So take this book and call your shrink in the morning--it may really not be so far-fetched! I think I'll start stocking it in my dispensary to give to my patients.

Ronald L. Hoffman, MD, New York City

Jack Challem seems to have written this book just for me. I was so tired of seeing doctors who merely prescribed multi-bad-effects medications and who each told me a different cause of my problems. I had to became very proactive to save my own health.

I was always exhausted, in body and spirit. I felt like I was in a constant brain fog, getting early Alzheimer's! I awakened more tired than when I went to bed, longing to take naps, no needing them. I have had fibromyalgia for 15 years and am taking medications for this, taking two medications which help tremendously but cause side effects. I have hypertension, am an adult with ADD. Like most people I am stressed, anxious, impatient, lack focus, taking care of an elderly parent......sound familiar? But I am an early retired teacher who loved her job and should be more relaxed and healthy. I want and need my active life-style back. I'm not "that old"!!

Well, I was literally sick from taking meds, so I picked up Mr. Challem's book just by chance and found I COULD help myself, was doing so many wrong nutritional things, made some of his easy, suggested changes and, to my disbelief, found great relief within two weeks! I have always taken supplements and watched my health - so I thought - but still felt bad most of the time. And only the suggestions made in this book have helped me feel so much better. This author makes sense.

In the easiest reading and well organized presentation, Mr. Challem specifically presents HOW food affects mood and four steps to change. He discusses real, every day problems: how to realistically reduce our levels of stress and anxiety, how to handle our irritability, how to have more energy. And his suggestions, fully explained so even I would understand them, worked!

He goes on to take us step by step through a "recovery" process in which we can "fix" ourselves - armed with nutritional understanding and easy to do changes in our diet and life style. And best of all Mr. Challem clearly points out the specific connections between foods and moods and gives the reader things to DO and things to avoid....along with some of the best recipes I have ever tried.

While all his information is data based, I could easily understand the author and put his connections and suggestions to use immediately. And they have made a wonderfully positive change in my health, my entire life.
And he sells no supplements!

This book is a perfect gift for any friend or family member (underlining and notes will have you hold on to your own copy!) who has hypertension, fibromyalgia, ADD, exhaustion, depression, who is overweight or those irritating characteristics of impatience, irritsbility, stress, obsessive-compulsive tendencies, forgetfulness ---- characteristics we certainly notice in THEM but seldom admit about ourselves!

Buy this book for your own health and sanity --- and some to give as gifts to those you care about. These ideas make sense and work.

I had difficulty understanding why I acted certain ways when my stomach was empty or full for that matter but now I know why I act the way I do after reading The Food-Mood Solution. My friends use to kindly remind me to eat something when I got too cranky for them to tolerate. Food really does effect your mood. If you don't think so, you really do need to read this book! Enjoy......

A concise, insightful, easy to understand read that can liberate the average person from the downside of the average American diet. Look around and see how right Mr Challem is, then test his theories in your own life. It's a relief to see what great, quick results you can get when you try his solutions.

Controlling moods with food is nothing new for me. The trouble was I went to the wrong foods for a quick fix that had a negative effect on my health, weight and moods. Jack Challem's book is full of stories I can relate to and it is worth the price for his recipes alone. They are terrific!

This book will scare you into leading a better lifestyle. I appreciated the science but it may be a little too much science for the average lay person. The recipe and 3 week diet fell a little short. The book advocates Mediteranian and Japanese diet but this is mostly Asian with lots of items most people won't be familar with like agar flakes and umeboshi vinegar. Books says avoid dry fruit but many of the breakfast ideas include raisins. Maybe berries would have been a better pick. Basically the menus don't always jive with the recomendations. I would follow Dr. Weils anti-inflamation diet as it is easier to follow. Also theory gives no explanation for the 40% of people that get cancer and disease and are not overweight. Are these people still insulin resistant but don't gain weight? I was glad I read the book. Finally the medical community is giving us some information that makes sense.

the evidnece presented in this book should encourage and motivate everyone to eat a healthier diet
very informative
C.W. RN and Certified Diabetes Educator

It took the post office almost a month to deliver this book so I'm not as far along as I had hoped. However it is clear, concise, easy to understand and I don't know why someone hasn't put this together before now.

Short Review - this is an excellent book. People need to take responsibility for their personal wealth by managing their own diet and exercise and to stop assigning blame to parents, heredity, and their doctors. Type II diabetes is not inevitable and actually can be reversed in its early stages if the patient chooses to change their lifestyle.

I have been following the suggestions of this book for eight weeks.
I have lost a lot of inches and weight. My blood sugars have dropped to an acceptable level and I feel a great deal better. I have recommended the book to several family members and friends. They are also seeing very positive results. My grateful thanks to Peter Morgan Kash and Jay Lombard.

Leslie Vernick has written this book with her heart and soul. This is not a typical self-helf glossy book, but a gentle read that is like walking and talking with a professional who is holding your hand. Our culture may teach us that becoming depressed is our own fault, that we must never admit to being depressed, and we must simply pull ourselves out of it. The Christian culture might even suggest to us that if we are straight with God, we'd not be depressed either. But Vernick dispells those lies and gives practical help to her readers.

Leslie Vernick writes from experience a book that explains profoundly, yet warmly, not only the sources of depression, but steps to take in overcoming it. She does not discount the enormous feelings associated with depression, nor sugar-coat how serious depression can affect one. Rather, she leads sufferers gently to how thoughts and beliefs keep us from authentic living, causing a spiral into depression. Then she shows how crucial it is to know God's truth in order to counteract the lies we believe. Ultimately, Leslie Vernick gives hope in how depression can be used in one's life for good. As a speaker and writer I will recommend many to read this book for hope and healing.Soar Unafraid: Learning to Trust No Matter What

Leslie offers solid guidance to depressed women and those who want to help them. She successfully avoids the "easy answers" by recognizing the complexity of what it means to be a fallen person living in a fallen world while upholding the central truth that the love of Christ speaks to all of our experiences and sufferings. Getting over the Blues is straight-forward, sensitively written, and is laced with concrete, practical goals. Its accessibility makes it a useful tool for pastor, counselor, friends, as well as the depressed sufferer.

Winston Smith
Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation
ccef.org

The back cover copy of Leslie Vernick's book starts with these words: Things are not hopeless... You are not helpless... You are not worthless... According to Leslie, a licensed clinical social worker, one in five women will experience clinical depression in her lifetime and when she does, feelings of worthlessness and helplessness can penetrate every area of her life. Getting Over the Blues is one of the most hopeful books about a subject Christians often shy away from. Leslie's writing is personal, practical, informative, and, most of all, filled with hope. This is a must read for counselors, pastors, those who are experiencing depression, or anyone who cares about someone who needs to understand that God wants her to feel normal and joyful.

Dr. Leslie Vernick has written a book that is the most practical and well-balanced book I've seen on depression. It is compassionate, honest, and founded on her vast experience as a family counselor, but is also biblically encouraging.

This is a book I will recommend to pastors, to friends, to loved ones, and to anyone who needs a promising resource to help in the fight against depression.

I will be the first one to tell you that this book is a challenge...to those of us who our lives are reeling in a downward spiral. Dr. Jesse Wright, has done an exceptional job...but we the consumer must look at this as being minute, hourly, daily, weekly, monthly and yearly works of art taking place. It takes real effort when doing this kind of Cognitive Therapy and it takes a great Therapist or Psychiatrist to help when you come upon blocks or walls.

This was a very informative book, written in plain English for those who are depressed and their families. There are many good exercises besides the profound text it provides. It covers the many forms and facets of depression in a very user-friendly way and I will not hesitate to use it and pass it one to others who may need it. It contains all the keys plus suggestions on how to put them into action and if that alone is not enough, how to talk to your doctor about medications. It gives life coping strategies that anyone can use. I couldn't put this book down.

A very nice book.

This is an excellent book, honoring the WHOLE person (body, mind and spirit), down-to-earth and very respectful of the different ways people deal with their personal distress. I am very surprised at the Publisher's Weekly review, as I found the book to be just the opposite of that assessment. In fact, this is the only book I've read whose authors, in fact, DID seem like they knew from experience the dark maze of depression. I have shared the book with others and will continue to recommend it. I discovered the book by accident at a bookstore one lonely gray day and read it three times. It truly is a life-changer.

I am quite grateful for this book, which actually helped me organize my thoughts, get them down on paper, and turn them into a plan for action for working on my depression. The book's focus on taking action was really the key for me, as I imagine it could be for other people experiencing depression. For many years, I was mired in thoughts of my depression and loneliness and felt completely stuck. Within a few days of reading the book and completing the exercises in the opening chapters, I was able to accomplish a few small things that had been really worrying me, and I gradually started to make progress in getting my life back together again.

Like another reviewer, I was also surprised by the Publisher's Weekly review posted above and disagree with much of the author's assessment of the book. If you are depressed and feel like you've been going around in circles about daily issues like paying the bills or larger issues about finding meaning in the life you lead, this book might also help you find a way to assess your situation and begin to relieve symptoms of depression. While no book is a cure and any approach to addressing depression requires a strong personal commitment, the authors of this book have really helped me, someone who has suffered from depression for more than 10 years. I thank them very much.

I got this book for my friend who was having a hard time. She was drinking heavily. After a few months she told me that this book helped her stop drinking. I was amazed! What a wonderful tool for so many people to understand why they do the things they do.

This workbook was a wonderful tool for helping me learn so much more about myself at a deeper level. I used it as a journal and still go back almost daily to add to it and re-read things I have written to see how much progress I have made or changes. I cannot compliment this book enough. It has and continues to be tremendously helpful in my life.

These workshops are skillfully designed for the individual to uplift one's spirits by helping them better understand themselves and to develop skills in making positive and powerful life changes. I learned how to better communicate, improve my relationships, and understand what might be holding me back so that I could really 'come into myself' like a flower that can finally open and be authentic. There is something about this workbook that serves almost like a journal that empowers and uplifts--so so good.

This book is truly the most invaluable book one can own. It is an indispensable tool of self discovery and self awareness that has guided me through some very troublesome decisions, and choices I've made as I pass through on my own personal life's journey. This workbook can be implemented at ones leisure and yet very inexpensively! What better way to decompress and explore ourselves in this hectic, frantic life we lead with all the choices we're bombarded with daily. This work book is absolute jewel in every sense of the word!

This book was the perfect awakening! I found myself in these pages with thought processes unknown to me in the main-stream. Kalior has a way to open your mind, to get you to look inward and gives you skills to achieve the happiness everyone on earth deserves. This book was displayed in our health clinic during a womens fair and was received with much excitement.

I can't recommend this book highly enough... The author writes is a very direct, honest, down-to-earth style, yet what she has to say is extremely profound. Like the little boy who says, "look, but the emperor has no clothes", she compassionately yet clearly through the cultural myths and denial that envelop and alienate us from the truth of our own direct experience.

I came to this book having read plenty of other books already on "the shadow", "befriending our pain", the dangers of "spiritual bypass", etc. etc. etc. so I was initially concerned that I might find some of this material old-hat or repetitive. Instead, I was delighted to find that the author offers a fresh and original take on these valuable subjects from the perspective of both Jewish spirituality and mysticism, as well as from the wisdom of her own hard-won experience.

The stories that the author shares from her own life, as well as the stories of the clients who have been fortunate enough to have her as a therapist, point to the real possibility of transformation and healing, by learning to listen to the wisdom of the "dark emotions". I found this book highly inspiring, and would recommend it to anyone who wants to find their way through and beyond the truth of suffering...

While I have never met the author, I want to say a heartfelt "thank you" for having written such a powerfully moving book...

I am a 9/11 survivor and this book really helped me accept my feelings rather than judging myself for having them. I bought this at Amazon.com from an Awesome Deal I found on DailyTool.com.

Everyone has losses. Everyone has wounds. This is not the end of joy but the beginning, if only we can learn to live with and find ourselves in our feelings, and embrace the life that waits for us on the other side of our pain. Miriam Greenspan's wise book is a warm and helpful guide to dealing with the dark emotions we all experience. As a writer and therapist myself I know how needed her book is and how valuable what she has to offer is. This is a must read for everyone.

A relatively recent book with the simple but profound concept that fear, grief and despair contain the seeds of great wisdom, vitality and balance when they are experienced fully rather than phobically avoided. It demonstrates how our aversion to pain sabotages our search for happiness. I often recommend this book in my psychotherapy practice.

Greenspan's book deserves wider recognition. I found it by accident online and I wish I had seen it earlier.

What I liked best: Greenspan writes from her own experienced as therapist and bereaved mother, a woman who came to the US as a young child and lost her first child due to unexplained brain defects. She knows the darker emotions first-hand.

Even better, Greenspan is not afraid to confront the received wisdom of the psychiatric establishment. Medication works for some depressed clients, but it is only by going into the emotion that we can transform despair into faith and fear into joy. She picks up on the values embedded in the DSM-IV diagnostic criteria: depression is a "mood disorder," which means that only cheerful, upbeat people are "normal."

I found myself making notes of key points that were unusual and insightful. In particular, her discussion of "boomerang emotions" will be especially valuable to anyone who's ever been frustrated in one area and acted out in another. It is easy to make impulsive, often dysfunctional decisions after stifling feelings for a long time. This section is one of the best in the book.

On the downside, I wish Greenspan had been more rigorous. Although her views seem sensible, some research suggets disagreement. For example, one study found that people recovered from grief as well if they were medicated as if they were allowed the full experience. Other studies have demonstrated that people experience grief differently. Some may not need to go deep into the feeling.

Because Greenspan works with therapy patients, she does not discuss the context of these "dark" emotions. Despair can be experienced by someone like William Styron, whom she discusses, as a person who seems on top of the world. But would there be a different experience of despair for someone who just lost a job, has little chance of finding a new job, anticipates old age and perhaps has family stresses too? Despair rooted in real obstacles seems somehow different from despair that has more existential "why are we here" origins. And biologically based depression seems to be different altogether.

Many New Age and popular authors (such as best-selling author Lynn Grabhorn) make exactly the opposite point: if you force yourself to be upbeat, your life gets better. I wish Greenspan had addressed this point directly, as some people do seem to do better after forced cheerfulness. This topic may not be amenable to scientific research but it would be nice to see some science-based discussion.

Finally, I wish Greenspan had stated her credentials on the book jacket. Is she a PhD? Does she have degrees? Has she published articles in academic or research journals? I was a little disconcerted by the discussion of chakras in a book by a more-or-less mainstream therapist.

Then again, Greenspan seems to be making a statement. She doesn't like the way we treat the darker emotions. And maybe she doesn't like the way therapists are categorized and pigeon-holed either. After all, there's no research (as far as I know) demonstrating that certain training results in better therapeutic outcomes. Definitely worth a read.

This book has blessed my life and a few of my friends who has it or has read the book. Angela is straight to the point and she breaks things down for your understanding. If you desire a closeness with God and you are tired of satan's tactics this is the book for you. It doesn't matter where you come from or what you have done "I'm Fed Up With Your Mess" will bless you.

1st thing Angie I would like to thank you for using the KJV which makes the WORD more understandable for some of use old schoolers.
2nd Putting this book down was one of the hardest things for me to do. I shouted, cried and rejoiced in ways I can not put on paper. Thanks for helping me recieve my deliverance.

I love you My friend and My sister in Christ. Danielle Davis

The book was very inspiring and was a great personal testimony of her struggles and how she overcame them with the help of the Lord! Would recommend the book to anyone.

I must say, It's great for your first book!
I identified with your book in so many ways. Your book has inspired me, encouraged me and gave me confirmation of what God has been speaking to me in my own circumstances. Thank you for being obedient to God's Will by writing this book.

I must say, It's great for your first book! I identified with your book in so many ways. Your book has inspired me, encouraged me and gave me confirmation of what God has been speaking to me in my own circumstances. Thank you for being obedient to God's Will by writing this book.

This book was well worth the extra money I paid. It is a wonderful encouragement for those of us who have gone through abandonment more than once. I highly recommend it to anyone who is hurting, and needs encouragement, and help.

I just wanted to comment on another reviewer's words before I give my review. The book does zero in on getting past abandonment to establish a healthy romantic relationship, but the things that made you an abandoment victim may or may NOT have had anything to do with with prior romantic situations. See more in my review that follows:

I got involved with a woman who has abandonment issues that stretch back to her disapproving/abusive father, all the way up through two abusive ex-husbands. All she's ever known was abandoment (at least from an emotional perspective). Abandonment, according to this book, can cause a person create all sorts of obstacles to true emotional intimacy because they're afraid of being hurt again. Thanks, in part, to this book, we're getting past many of our respective issues (I was dumped by an ex-wife) and learning how to love each other without reservation. If you've been emotionally OR physically abandoned in your life (even if it was just an alcoholic or "absent" parent), you could be what the book calls an "abandonholic." Get this book... it's full of good stuff to help get you out of a truly destuctive mindset.

No exaggeration, this is some holy stuff! Like the two prior reviewers indicated that Anderson does mainly zoom in on romantic relationships however it makes sense in a way since non romantic abandonment issues do seep into romantic relationships. I hope that made sense. At any rate, she takes note of many little things that people may feel during the break up process that we take for granted and she guides us through the motions. I think she shouldve focused more on self esteem issues though and immediate gratification as being a cornerstone for this dilemma. Other than that, this book is timeless...I hope Im not exaggerating.

THe clarity and empathy in this work saved my life.

I read the author's other abandonment book first. This one is so much better. The publisher needs to start printing it again.

As I read this book, I felt like she was reading my mind. How I long for my ex, even though they treated me badly. How I yearn for them. How I criticize myself. One of her principal arguments in this book is that your amygdlada, your emotional brain, is responsible for these feelings. You have to take it from the amygdala and put it into your cognitive brain. She has numerous exercises to do this. Today, there's a big push in therapy about getting connected with your feelings and how your feelings drive you. This why meditations, hypnosis, and other therapies having become so popular. Anderson provide exercises that help you get to that part of your brain.

What spoke to me most about this book was the information about abandoholics. People who are addicted to the unavailable, and when someone actually likes then, the fear engulfement and push the person away. She explains the cause of this and has exercises to open yourself up to more mutual love.

An excellent, excellent book. I'm not done yet, but I'm what the author says, that these experiences will take us to a richer life, are true for me.

EDIT - Since getting married, I still like this book for some reasons, but then other issues frustrate me. Sometimes I do feel like I settled with my wife for getting married because we didn't have the excitement. Well then, this book is talking exactly to me then. She says that I would feel that way, and it is my amygdala who is addicted to excitement. So re-reading this book after I'm married and reading some of her blogs on thirdage is helping me really confront these issues so I can have a happy marriage.

Nine-year-old Kit Kittredge is growing more and more concerned about her family's welfare, now that the Great Depression is getting increasingly worse. The fact that Christmas is slowly creeping up, only brings more worry into her life, as Kit's best friend, Ruthie - whose family is doing quite well in the midst of disaster - is counting on Kit and her mother to accompany her and her mother on a lavish day-after Christmas excursion - a tradition that can't possibly continue this year. The idea makes Kit upset, and soon the two girls are no longer speaking. Now, with the extra free time on her hands, Kit has begun doing various odd jobs for her rich Uncle, and is pocketing the money, in an attempt to give it to her mother as a surprise on Christmas morning!

I have taken up reading about Kit's adventures over the past few weeks, and each story makes me a bigger fan of the hopeful-reporter. Kit is a wonderful character, whose imagination, accompanied by the many obstacles she must overcome in life, create a marvelous story that will be loved. Valerie Tripp has done a wonderful job with this series, and the stories keep getting better and better. I am now very excited to read HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KIT! A lovely holiday story for the history fan in your life.

Erika Sorocco
Book Review Columnist for The Community Bugle Newspaper

Kit's Surprise continues the story of nine-year-old Kit Kittredge, who is growing up during America's Great Depression. Kit's Dad has lost his job. Since the family can't pay the bill for their house, Kit finds out that they might be evicted (kicked out of their house)! To make things worse, Kit and her best friend Ruthie have gotten into a fight, and she has to care for her cranky Uncle Hendrick and his dog Inky, who is just like him. But then Kit finds a way to make the holidays bright, and a way to get her best friend back. Includes "Peek Into the Past," which tells about life during the Great Depression.

In this book, Kit Kittredge is living during the great depression in the 1930's. She and her best friend, Ruthie, get into a fight one day and don't speak to each other. Kit has to take care of her Uncle Hendrick who is grumpy and rude and has a dog that is as mean as he is. At the end, all works out fine for Kit, and she realizes that it is not the worst Christmas ever.

Kit's Suprise is a great book written by Valerie Tripp. Kit's suprise is about a young girl who lived in the depresion. As Christmas approaches the bank threatens to through Kit and her family out of their home. Kit finds ways to save money and save her family. This is a great book!!!

Kit's Surprise is my favorite American Girl Book! The setting is nineteen thirty four in Cincinatti. Kit's dad has lost his job and her family is struggling to have enough money to pay their bills. Kit is highly discouraged because she is asked to care for her nasty uncle. He always has a list of jobs ready for Kit. She becomes even more sad because she and her best friend Ruthie get into a huge fight. Can Kit find a way to brighten up the holidays? Read this book to find out!

Raised on a Wisconsin dairy farm about 15-20 years later than author Ben Logan, I have long since concluded that for me it was the Right Time - Right Place. Logan's living history of family values, relationships and life lessons, told in the context or rural farm life, lets me relive my life through his, and glean our mutual past for the source of our values. I just read The Land Remembers for the second time. I think I'll read it every year.

I'm biased, because I'm from Gays Mills, WI (I used to mow Leita Slayton's lawn!) - but I recently re-read it, and was surprised at how many of the anecdotes and images I remembered were actually from The Land Remembers, and not from Steinbeck or anyone else better-known. Parts of this book will stay with you for years and years. It's like going home again every time I pick it up.

This is one of those books I will always remember. My children were young when I read it and I felt that it contained many lessons on how to be a good parent. And all in the context of very enjoyable reading. The story about learning to use the horse drawn cultivator shows how a parents help their child develop self-confidence, which is something I see so many people lacking. I can't say enough good things about this gem of a book.

This book is full of humor and spends wonderful time on how a farm is run, explaining the land, the chores, the wonder of living on a farm. Ben's antics with his brothers are delightful, and his account of his evenings with his family are memorable. I read this anytime I need a lift, and share its richness with anyone who will listen.

One room school house, the changing of the seasons and the farm chores for each one...a memior of one man's boyhood experiences. I liked this book and my husband liked it even more than I did. He was born and raised in rural WI, picking rocks, milking, and going sledding with his brothers. This book is well written and reads like a time capsule...the people & chores on a family farm. I would have given it a perfect 5 stars, but there is too much about bees. Less bee watching and the author would have a classic here. Great that his story goes full circle. We learn what happens to the people we've read and cared about...which is always gratifying to us readers.