Seeing Beyond Depression

Jean Vanier, noted spiritual author and founder of the L'Arche communities for people with learning disabilities, gently describes various aspects of the causes of, experience of, and recovery from depression. Though neither a clinical analysis nor a first-person narrative, Seeing Beyond Depression is informed by both psychological theory and personal experience. Vanier's approach is to provide a meditative mixture of realism and hope intended to speak to the spiritual state of the depressed person.The author's tone is that of one friend caring for another, and this slim volume would certainly make a thoughtful gift to a friend who is depressed, even if that friend is yourself.