Talking to Depression: Simple Ways to Connect When Someone in Your Lifeis Depres: Simple Ways to Connect When Someone in Your Life Is Depressed

As a former mental health therapist and a person diabled by depression, I highly recommend this book. I wish I had had it 7 years ago when my mother moved in with me. She was saying all the "don'ts" and not doing any of the "dos". I got this book recently and read through it, marvelling at how my mother has, over the years, learned how to help me with my depression. Another plus for this book is that it is written on a human level, not using a lot of dry facts or professional terminology, but just saying what needs to be said. It even includes a section on how children and teenagers can learn what to say and do as well as a section on what to say and do if a parent notices symptoms of depression in their child or adolescent.

I read this because I was mesmerized by the concept that this kind of support exists...these kinds of people thinking these kinds of thoughts. It's utterly alien to me. My family talking to me about depression, is equivalent to a conversation between Ann Coulter and Barney Frank, if it's allowed for discussion at all. Freinds? They're all the "bite your lip" tuffies. They say, "Oh, I have depression, too." I guess they are tougher than me, if they work full-time, and go to school, and raise small children, and maintain a full social calendar. That to me is a peculiar brand of depressed person. It reminds me of hearing about NFL players, playing while suffering from the flu. Sorry...doesn't happen; not with the actual flu. Under the fullest weight, something has to give. These days "feeling blue" is popularly believed to be the same as Major Depression, and anything more virulent than the sniffles, is described as "the flu". I've had those discussions. I've been through the HMO mill, after having been diagnosed with Major Depression several years ago. And I had to read this book as a sort of counterbalance. Call it an indulgence in fantasy. I have the highest regard for those of you who are considering reading this book in an effort to understand someone close to you. It's a fine book. More power to you.

excellent book ! well-structed, easy to read, practical manual that you can follow in the daily life. I just finished it and I really think i am lucky to find this book to read. It is the right one to help me to cope with the daily challenge,as i have been struggling in the support for the one i loved in depression, sometimes confused and sometimes frustrated. I hope more peopel in this need could read it coz it's really useful.

When I got diagnosed my family immediately began researching depression and learning all they could. I just discovered this book at my parents' house, full of yellow highlighted passages. It was so touching to learn that they care that much about me and that they know me so well. I found the book to be so very truthful on many levels. She describes many possible actions and reactions and thoughts and feelings of the depressed person. While not all of them related directly to me, I could see that my family had found the ones that did and really took them to heart. So, the list must be very exhaustive and you will surely find your loved one there, even if all the symptoms don't match. My family has responded in such a wonderful manner to me and seem to have given me exactly what I needed when I needed it. Underneath the depression I had marveled at how "good" they were at supporting me. Now I can see where they got the specific advice as to what to do and what to say and what not to say - right here in this book and it was SPOT ON. Thinking back, I can almost pinpoint when they read this because I distinctly remember when they stopped saying the "Things you should never say to a depressed person." I remember being thankful that they had finally stopped the useless advice(!) It's a short book, an easy read but don't discount its helpfulness and usefulness. I recommend this book highly. For you - if you're depressed - find yourself on the lists and show your family what will help and what won't; for you - if you have a depressed loved one. I have even recommended it to my counselor to recommend to the families of her other depressed clients.

I highly recommend this compassionate handbook which gives simple, practical suggestions about how to help a person who is struggling with depression. TALKING TO DEPRESSION is not for therapists but rather for the rest of us--family members and friends who are in the trenches with a depressed person "in all the moments of every day." The book begins with a brief overview of depression written in plain language and goes on to provide a glimpse of what depression feels like from the inside as described by people who have actually experienced it. What I found most helpful was the author's specific advice about what to say and what not to say, about what to do and what not to do when trying to give comfort and support to someone suffering with depression. And the book closes with an excellent list of resources for further study and assistance. With TALKING TO DEPRESSION, Claudia Strauss has given us a gift--she reminds us that everyday people in everyday situations can make a difference, and she teaches us how.