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The Depression Cure: The 6-Step Program To Beat Depression Without Drugs (2009)

by Stephen S. Ilardi(Favorite Author)

4.1 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

0738213136 (ISBN13: 9780738213132)

languge

English

genre

Nonfiction

publisher

Da Capo Lifelong Books

review 1: I liked this book a lot, although as other reviewers have stated, the material is quite repetitive and the gist can be gotten quickly in the first few chapters. Nonetheless, I appreciated the detail he gave about the empirical support for each step and how to actually apply the program.I have used a set of similar steps as the basis of my approach to recovering from depression, along with a program of counselling. My own results have been wonderful and I continue to use the steps to maintain vitality and resist drops into dysthymia.I've only taken a star off because I didn't learn anything new here.
review 2: Aside from a somewhat misleading title and a negative position on medication, I think this book is a very good read for anyone interested in practicing im... moreportant healthy lifestyle habits that have been shown to help many people recover from, cope with, or possibly avoid recurrences of depression, anxiety, and many other mood disorders. The habits aren't groundbreaking: sleep, sun, exercise, diet (omega-3 in particular), social contact, and an avoidance of rumination (worry), but their contribution to mental health is very clearly explained. The author has provided useful, in-depth information about how all of these activities make a biological and psychological impact, and offers suggestions about how to incorporate these habits into daily living.Now for what I didn't like. There is no "cure" for depression, a fact that the author does state at the end of the book. He writes that depression, like diabetes, is a "lifelong illness", the symptoms of which can be eliminated, "but the disorder's enduring imprint on the brain, with its corresponding risk of relapse, is always there."This, however, makes the "TLC" (the author's "Therapeutic Lifestyle Change") even more important as depression is not a 'once and done'. Lifestyle changes are essential to avoid relapses, and the habits suggested in this book are fundamental and well known.I don't agree with the author's chapter on medication. His position is well explained and backed by research, but I do believe that medication has its time and place, particularly with those who suffer from serious/major depression or other incapacitating mental illnesses. I worry that this chapter might "frighten" people away from medication, where it would otherwise be helpful or even life-saving. To paraphrase William Lyon Mackenzie King: "Not necessarily medication but medication if necessary". less

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