What to Do When Someone You Love Is Depressed: A Practical, Compassionate, and Helpful Guide for Caregivers

An excellent book on depression. It helps me so much to understand my loved one's emotional roller-coasters at times. "Pay attention to the feelings underlying depressed one's words, not specific content of the words;" practicing "the wisdom and pain of silence," are just some examples of good and practical advice for handling various difficult situations. Recommend wholeheartedly.

Very Good and helpful book hoping it will keep me on the right track where I want to be. It has helped my boyfriend understand alittle more.

I bought this book second; and loved it. The first book I bought "How to Survive When They Are Depressed" was awful. This book is a great overview. One important thing; this book giveing insight into what the depressed person is thinking and feeling; both about the depression and when depressed. This book could go more in depth; for exaple the list of things depressed people hate to hear, is waaay too short; there is so much more that could have been added. However, what is there is great and well worth it. I am the depressed person in our family and have had my parents and boyfreind read it.

I bought this book for my husband and his family and for my family to help them understand my depression and gather some better methods for supporting me. It is helpful, as it is very informational about all facets of the disorder: what a depressed person experiences, different types of depression, medication options, etc. One thing I was excited about was the list of "depressed people's sayings" and the list of responses NOT to give and alternative, better responses. This is a helpful list, since this is one of the problems I encounter the most ("You shouldn't think that way," "That's silly," "You're hurting those who love you"). However, the responses are repetitions, mostly of "I know you feel that way now, but we will get through this together." And, even though this is a good response, saying it as a response to everything someone says just sounds silly. However, the concept of the list is wonderful, since it serves the purpose of showing people flaws in their responses.As is the case with this example, other advice/information is good and beneficial, but incomplete or repetitious. I suppose the excuse is that it's impossible to analyze a disorder that is different for everyone, hard to pin down, and extremely difficult for a non-depressed person to understand. However, for a general overview and introduction to depression for non-depressed friends or family members, this is a good book to buy.

As a clinical social worker, I frequently recommend this book to clients, colleagues and friends for help with their depressed family members. The section on anti-depressant medication is especially clear and easy to understand. Dr. Golant's recommended strategies are enhanced by his use of vignettes from his practice and personal life to make a very touching and accessible book.