A Mood Apart
A Mood ApartThis is a collection of essays on various aspects of mood disorders by a renowned psychiatrist. It is a combination of reflection over his life of clinical…
Active Treatment of Depression
Active Treatment of DepressionRichard O'Connor is back to tell it like it is about depression, this time writing an eye-opening, engaging volume for the professional. In this follow-up t…
Adult Bipolar Disorders
Adult Bipolar DisordersIn the fourth paragraph of the preface, Mitzi Waltz explains why she wrote this book. "This book is intended to bring together all the basic infor…
American Mania
American ManiaThe philosopher Hegel once said that philosophizing should not be confused with mere analogical reflection. This whole book is based on one analogy: th…
Bipolar Disorder
Bipolar DisorderThis book is volume 5 in a World Psychiatric Association (WPA) series "Evidence and Experience in Psychiatry". The acknowledgements note that the publication has been supported by an unrestricted educational grant from Sanofi-Synthelabo, the gl…
Bipolar Disorder
This book is volume 5 in a World Psychiatric Association (WPA) series "Evidence and Experience in Psychiatry". The acknowledgements note that…
Bipolar Disorder Demystified
Bipolar Disorder DemystifiedBipolar Disorders Demystified has two strengths. First, its accessibility and authenticity. Written by someone who knows first hand what it means…
Britain on the Couch
Britain on the CouchUnfortunately this book is not for sale in the US: you can buy it from Amazon.co.uk.
Calm Energy
Calm EnergyCalm Energy is a weight loss book that takes a scholarly look at the subject. Rather than hammering away at all the "do’s" and &quo…
Chronic Depression
Chronic DepressionDepression and related disorders, such as dysthymia, are prevalent and costly both to the individual (in terms of interpersonal relationships and well-be…
Comprehending Suicide
Comprehending SuicideSuicide is the most powerfully taboo topic of discussion in North America at the present time. Not only do many people find it impossible to say the word…
Conquering Postpartum Depression
Conquering Postpartum DepressionAccording to the authors, about 4 out of 5 new mothers suffer "the baby blues" but 10-17% experience clinical postpartum depression. For some…
Conquering the Beast Within
Conquering the Beast WithinConquering the Beast Within by Cait Irwin is an uncomplicated, realistic look at the author’s battle with depression. As I have not only su…
Depression Fallout
Depression FalloutAnne Sheffield is author of How You Can Survive When They're Depressed: Living and Coping with Depression Fallout and after writing that book she…
Depression in Context
Depression in ContextThis book is written for therapists practicing in the field of behavioral therapy for the treatment of depression. It is clearly presented, systematic, a…
Depression Is a Choice
Depression Is a ChoiceI can't remember the last time I read such an exasperating book. Here is a quotation that sums up Curtiss' central attitude: Our great-grandparents used wil…
Depression Sourcebook
Depression SourcebookBrian P. Quinn's easily readable volume, The Depression Sourcebook, includes a few brief vignettes about famous people who have suffered from depress…
Depression-Free for Life
Depression-Free for LifeThere’s something amiss in drug-centered treatments for depression, and holistic psychiatrist Gabriel Cousens claims he has the solution in his D…
Down Came the Rain
Down Came the RainDown Came the Rain, penned remarkably well by well known actress Brooke Shields, describes her personal journey through postpartum depression.&n…
Dysthymia and the Spectrum of Chronic Depressions
Dysthymia and the Spectrum of Chronic DepressionsChronic low-level depression is gaining increasing recognition as a serious problem. That is partly because there are now drugs that can help the condition,…
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Electroboy
ElectroboyThere have not been many memoirs of mania, so Electroboy is a welcome addition to the form. Andy Behrman tells his story well, and his mania has ensu…
Electroshock
ElectroshockElectroshock, Restoring the Mind, is one of the most comprehensive books that I have seen written that can allay the fears of the lay person and the pati…
Essential Psychopharmacology of Depression and Bipolar Disorder
Essential Psychopharmacology of Depression and Bipolar DisorderComprehensive, succinct and beautifully illustrated, Essential Psychopharmacology of Depression and Bipolar Disorder provides a very technical biolog…
Read the full review of Essential Psychopharmacology of Depression and Bipolar Disorder
Experiences of Depression
Experiences of DepressionExperiences of Depression reflects Sidney Blatt's long career. Blatt proposes a synthesis of two types of depressive experience, namely the anacl…
Fatal Attachments
Fatal AttachmentsViola Mecke attempts to deal with a touchy subject in this book. Her premise is that some suicides are 'instigated' by a third party. It is a daring prem…
Getting Your Life Back
Getting Your Life BackThe authors start this book with a special note that is extremely important: "Although we offer guidance for ways that you can help yourself to fig…
I am Not Sick I Don't Need Help!
I am Not Sick I Don't Need Help!Trying to help the mentally ill accept treatment when they feel they do not need it is difficult to say the least. The decision to force a person to do s…
Life Interrupted
Life InterruptedThe first CD of this 2-CD package contains three short monologues by Spalding Gray, Life Interrupted, The Anniversary, and Dear New York City, with an in…
Living Without Depression and Manic Depression
Living Without Depression and Manic DepressionMore than 11 million people suffer from depression in the U.S. each year. Now, this guidebook presents new ways to cope with depression and hold it at bay. Based on a study of patients diagnosed with major depression or manic-depression who have avoided s
Read the full review of Living Without Depression and Manic Depression
Making Sense of Suicide
Making Sense of SuicideAs the author notes in the preface, suicide is the 8th leading cause of death in America today, ending over 30,000 lives prematurely. In this book, Lester e…
Malignant Sadness
Malignant SadnessLewis Wolpert, a British medical biologist, suffered a period of severe depression several years ago. He found it the worst experience of his life. His b…
Manic Depression
Manic DepressionManic Depression, by Lynn Bradley, is a short and uninformative book about Bradley's experience with being married to a man who suffers from Bipolar…
Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression
Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for DepressionThis is an easy to read book written in ordinary English. While it contains references to research in clinical psychology and several graphs, the authors ha…
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Mood Genes
Mood GenesSamuel Barondes, Robertson Professor of Neurobiology and Psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco, is one of the true pioneers in the field…
My Depression
My DepressionIn My Depression, Elizabeth Swados explains what it is like for her to be depressed. She gets depressed on a regular basis, and while when she is…
Natural Healing for Depression
Natural Healing for DepressionCan depression be treated by antidepressant medications alone? Many Americans hope for a quick easy "magic bullet" to cure what ails them. Depression is…
New Hope for Children and Teens with Bipolar Disorder
New Hope for Children and Teens with Bipolar DisorderNew Hope for Children and Teens with Bipolar Disorder is a straightforward guide mainly aimed at parents. As author Boris Birmaher points out in…
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New Hope For People With Bipolar Disorder
New Hope For People With Bipolar DisorderNew Hope is a well-written text on the diagnosis and management of Bipolar Disorder. It has 12 chapters in total in an easy to read format, which cov…
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New Hope for People with Depression
New Hope for People with DepressionAnother book in the “New Hope” series (see the review of New Hope for Pe…
Night Falls Fast
Night Falls FastJamison is a professor of psychiatry at the prestigious Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and is co-author of…
On the Edge of Darkness
On the Edge of Darkness"I walk outside... sun shining, breeze wafting, birds singing --- SO WHAT? My baby gives me one of those dazzling smiles --- SO WHAT? My best friend calls…
Outsmarting Depression
Outsmarting DepressionOutsmarting Depression is a rather odd book, collecting together information about different psychological causes of depression and criticisms of…
Overcoming Depression
Overcoming DepressionThe most comprehensive source on major mood disorders available to the layperson. Since its first publication in 1987, it has become the book most often rec…
Potatoes Not Prozac
Potatoes Not ProzacPotatoes not Prozac is a very useful book. The multitalented author Kathleen DesMaisons writes from the viewpoint of an addictions counselor, spec…
Raising a Moody Child
Raising a Moody ChildAt first glance, this is a guide for parents who are confronted with a child who is always in a mood of sorts. The "Moody" bit on the cover is…
Self-Coaching
Self-CoachingThe underlying theme of this book is quite simple. Luciani tells us--his readers--in no uncertain tone, that if we are depressed or anxious it's pro…
Sightlines
SightlinesChances are, Terry Osborne will read this book review one day. And waiting there with him will be The Voice - the vicious inner critic that has accompanied…
Songs from the Black Chair
Songs from the Black Chair"Over the last twenty years, the most significant thing I have learned is this: if you slam doors now, you're less likely to kill yourself later.&qu…
Speaking of Sadness
Speaking of SadnessDavid Karp is a sociologist and he suffers from depression. He felt a divide between these two parts of his life; he found that the fundamental premise of h…
Suicide
SuicideAs the back cover blurb of this book states, 'suicide is an ageless concern that has been with us as long as man has existed.' Suicide has also been the…
Sunbathing in the Rain
Sunbathing in the RainThis is a very likable book, one that would be comforting for many people with depressive illness. Gwyneth Lewis' main theme is the usefulness of depre…
Survival Strategies for Parenting Children with Bipolar Disorder
Survival Strategies for Parenting Children with Bipolar DisorderGeorge T. Lynn’s book, Survival Strategies for Parenting Children with Bipolar Disorder is a valuable resource for parents and those in the…
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Surviving Manic Depression
Surviving Manic Depression“Manic-depressive illness,” state the authors in their opening paragraph, “is now openly discussed as a brain disease.” This places t…
The Aesthetics of Disengagement
The Aesthetics of DisengagementThe audience for this specialized five chapter text includes those concerned with contemporary issues of depression, new media art theories, contemporary…
The American Psychiatric Publishing Textbook of Mood Disorders
The American Psychiatric Publishing Textbook of Mood DisordersThere is no doubt that this is intended to be a major teaching aid for under and post-graduate mental health professionals, and moves easily from basic t…
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The Anatomy of Melancholy
The Anatomy of MelancholyIt is a fitting tribute to the perennial popularity of Burton’s Anatomy of Melancholy that the last decade should have seen not one but two n…
The Antidepressant Solution
The Antidepressant SolutionIts content isn't exactly news, or hot off the presses, but its one of only a few works that openly explores what medication creators simply have mos…
The Beast
The BeastThe plot of a memoir related by a person who has survived major mental illness is somewhat predictable. Some subtle signs of the illness are present even in…
The Bipolar Child
The Bipolar ChildNote: The reviewer has a diagnosis of bipolar disorder, and was a bipolar child. She uses examples from her own life experiences to explore the th…
The Bipolar Disorder Survival Guide
The Bipolar Disorder Survival GuideThis book is crammed full of useful information for bipolar patients, their family members, therapists, friends, lovers, employers and anyone else intere…
The Blue Day Book
The Blue Day BookWith 92 black and white photographs of animals Bradley Grieve tries to cheer up the reader. There are lions, pelicans, rabbits, bears, kittens, frogs, cows,…
The Clinical Science of Suicide Prevention
The Clinical Science of Suicide PreventionThe Clinical Science of Suicide Prevention was the result of a conference entitled Suicide Prevention 2000 that was held on May 7-8, 2000 in New Y…
Read the full review of The Clinical Science of Suicide Prevention
The Depression Workbook
The Depression WorkbookThis book is based on the responses of 120 survey participants who share their insights, experiences, and strategies for living with extreme mood swings. Interactive exercises teach essential coping skills such as building a strong support system, bolster
The Emotional Revolution
The Emotional RevolutionThe Emotional Revolution by Norman E. Rosenthal is a tempered exploration of the subject of human emotions for readers who wish to understand the…
The Family Silver
The Family SilverThis is such a rich and profound book that I feel I could read it again and again and still find more each time. Sharon O'Brien, who is a profes…
The Feeling Good Handbook
The Feeling Good HandbookDepression is a crippling and often misunderstood disorder in today's society. While many people advocate a purely medical model of this problem (and label…
The Loss of Sadness
The Loss of SadnessIn this book Horwitz and Wakefield have brought to light a central problem with the way that American psychiatrists think about depression. The problem,…
The Mood Cure
The Mood CureThe book has a good name given its content: The Mood Cure is intended for those who are in search of a cure for their mood. According to Julia Ro…
The Myth of Depression as Disease
The Myth of Depression as DiseaseThe stated goal of The Myth of Depression as Disease is to explain the nature of depression and the existing array of treatments in order to disab…
The Naked Bird Watcher
The Naked Bird Watcher''The sanity birds glided seamlessly through my dream, arcing high into the air on the updraft then swooping low over the churning sea....Then…
The Nature of Melancholy
The Nature of MelancholyIn The Nature of Melancholy, Jennifer Radden collects some of the most important writings on the condition often referred these days to as "d…
The Noonday Demon
The Noonday DemonAndrew Solomon's new book has received a great deal of positive press. The website associated with the book has a…
The Postpartum Effect
The Postpartum EffectThe Postpartum Effect contains some interesting information that might possibly be useful but it is not a book I'd recommend to pregnant women, es…
The Secret Strength of Depression
The Secret Strength of DepressionHow to write a best-seller about depression is a secret that was cracked by Flach nearly thirty years ago when the first version of this book was publis…
Undercurrents
UndercurrentsIn short diary entries over the period of nearly two years, psychotherapist Martha Manning tells the story of her depression. She is a very active, succe…
Understanding Depression
Understanding DepressionThese two authors are professors of psychiatry, one at Columbia and the other at Utah (the latter is also a lecturer in psychiatry at Harvard). Whilst these are impressive qualifiers which grant them credibility psychiatrists will generally operate from…
Understanding Depression
These two authors are professors of psychiatry, one at Columbia and the other at Utah (the latter is also a lecturer in psychiatry at Harvard). Whilst t…
Undoing Depression
Undoing DepressionRichard O'Connor knows what he talks about in one of the most thorough, comprehensive, and enjoyable books I've ever read on the beast we call depression…
Unhappy Teenagers
Unhappy TeenagersThis book is in many ways a very moving witness to the indisputable help that the author has given to numerous families over the years. William Glasser…
Unholy Ghost
Unholy GhostThis powerful collection of reflections on depression includes some well-known authors, such as Ann Beatie, Susanna Kaysen, and William Styron, but for the…
When Nothing Matters Anymore
When Nothing Matters AnymoreWhen I read in the foreword that the author was a cousin of the former rock group Nirvana's lead singer Kurt Cobain, who she had not even ever met, I exp…
When Someone You Love Is Depressed
When Someone You Love Is DepressedYou and your spouse have been married for many years. Suddenly your spouse gets irritable with every little thing you do. They are unwilling to continue…
When Words Are Not Enough
When Words Are Not EnoughOne in four women will experience clinical depression, anxiety, or premenstrual depression in her lifetime. The good news is that popular new prescription d…
When Your Body Gets the Blues
When Your Body Gets the BluesWhat Is the Body Blues? The textbook term for the Body Blues is vegetative depressive symptoms. A woman with this condition ha…
Where the Roots Reach for Water
Where the Roots Reach for WaterDepression has always been with us, writes first-time author Jeffery Smith in Where the Roots Reach for Water. It is the way the illness has been perceiv…
Why Are You So Sad?
Why Are You So Sad?Why Are You So Sad? A Child's Book About Parental Depression is a short picture book for children aged three to eight. It tells children t…
Why People Die by Suicide
Why People Die by SuicideIn this book, Thomas Joiner puts forward his theory of why people die by suicide. It can be summarized with three vital factors: thwarted belongingness,…
You Are Not Alone
You Are Not AloneWarning! This is not a straightforward book review. It is, rather, an extension of this fine book. So, taking my cue from the format of the book, it made me…