Undoing Depression
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For some people, depression has been a part of their experience for so long that they’ve begun to believe it’s what they are. They become experts at doing depression–hiding it, working around it, even achieving great things (but at the price of great struggle, and little satisfaction). In this book, psychotherapist Richard O’Conner shows us how to undo depression, by replacing depressive patterns of thinking, relating, and behaving with a new and more effective set of skills. With a truly holistic approach that synthesizes the best of the many schools of thought about this painful disease, O’Conner offers new hope–and new life–for depressives. more info
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a good book to start with
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
If you have just been diagnosed with depression, or someone who is close to you has, and you just want an overview of what depression is all about, then this is a good book to read as a first step. It brings together a lot of valuable general information and is written with experience and compassion. It will be of help to you if you are mildly depressed or even if you are merely unhappy with your life, but if you are a sufferer of major depression, this book is just not specific enough, it is too simplistic, and it does not contain anything new. There are chapters in the middle that discuss things like families, love, marriage, divorce, etc, that are in my opinion quite irrelevant.
The author admits that there is no one definite theory of the cause and treatment of depression, and so attempts to cover all the different approaches and put them together as package. This approach, whilst valid in theory, can be an overwhelming burden to juggle for a depressed person, who is made to feel that if he/she is not doing it all perfectly - keeping a mood journal, keeping a daily record of dysfunctional thoughts, eating well, in intense therapy, analyzing everything, etc - then he/she is not doing all they can to get well and this can make a depressed person feel a lot of needless guilt. I am very sceptical of this catch-all approach, it puts too much pressure on a depressed person for not nearly enough of a gain in their recovery. This approach will often make a depressed person feel that if they cannot manage all this constant self-actualization and exercises and analysis, etc (which they often can’t - because they are depressed) that it then must be their own weakness making them depressed; this is extremely counter-productive. It is also unfortunate because some of the techniques can be of some help, but not if they are simplified and all jumbled together.
Having said all this, I do appreciate what the author is trying to do. This book is useful if you take from it what you think can help you right now, doing only what you can and want to, leaving the rest for another time. It won’t change your life, but it will get you started and point you in the right directions for further help.
Life-saving advice for NYer’s post-traumatic stress.
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
A young member of our family has been afraid to go back to work and has been showing signs of depression as we found from information on the internet. Thankfully we found this book through the website of the same name. This week it has been passed around to seven people in our building and it would be more but some went out and got their own. Everything said in the earlier reviews is right on. But what is new is that there is help here for what we hope is only a temporary depression also.
Thank you Dr. O’Connor
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This is one of the clearest, most compassionate books on depression that I have ever read. Dr. O’Conner, who suffers from depression himself, has been able to take the sticky-spaghetti threads of thoughts in a depressed person’s brain and unravel them and explain them in a very straightforward manner. Anyone who has struggled to try and explain his/her disease to a non-depressed person will appreciate Dr. O’Conner’s writing.Dr. O’Connor presents a very well-informed well-rounded view of the philosophies and treatments. Good basic book to start with.
This book was more helpful than I thought it would be!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Because of the engaging, highly readable, compassionate writing style, I was able to keep reading even when “the truth hurt.” This turned out to be one of the best presents I have ever received, even though it came as a surprise. So I’m thanking jojo in Framingham for her insight and her kindness in reaching out to me.
O’Connor Excellent on Depression and Negativity
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
The reading public seems to have become well aware that Richard O’Connor’s book “Undoing Depression” is a truly excellent and very helpful approach to understanding and dealing with that powerful negative force — depression. I want to add a related point, which concerns O’Connor’s other book, “Active Treatment of Depression.” Although that book is aimed at therapists, I would recommend it also as a follow-up for any reader who appreciated “Undoing Depression.” Reading his 2 books in sequence is a doubly helpful process. As psychologists become more aware of how depression is usually embedded in a broader pattern of negativity — worry, anxiety, pessimism — readers can benefit from those broader, related insights. For example, The Positive Power of Negative Thinking by Julie Norem updates traditional cognitive therapy with new understanding of ‘constructive pessimism’ as a cognitive-emotional experience. And, as other reviewers have pointed out, the cognitive therapy classic Feeling Good is still useful today. So don’t miss O’Connor’s 2 books, and related titles may help with the broader psychological context.
For anyone who wonders if they have depression.
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This book has been a great help to me. Just reading it gave me the strength and courage to call and make that appointment with a therapist. Unfortunately depressives often feel that they don’t deserve or suffer enough to require treatment from a counselor. This book describes depression in terms that the reader can understand and feel comfortable with. While reading the Introduction, I started crying, thinking “Wow!, somebody finally understands exactly what I’ve been going through. I’m really not the only one that feels like this!” I recommend it to depressives, their family, and therapists that deal with depressives.
Undoing Depression has helped me change my life.
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Richard O’Connor, in Undoing Depression, has combined research, theory, and wisdom to create a book that has had a profound effect on my life. I can’t praise the work enough and wish everyone the good fortune to find it.
Read ‘Feeling Good’ Instead
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
In reading O’Connor, I found striking similarities to the techniques found in ‘Feeling Good’. O’Connor’s work did little to help or inspire me. ‘Feeling Good’ is an upbeat, self-actualizing read. Skip this one and go directly there.
Three reasons why this book was a waste of time and money:
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
1. It didn’t teach me anything I hadn’t already read in other books or learned on my own.
2. Stressed the importance of medication and ignored the plight of those (like me) who have tried pretty much every med on the market and experienced no relief from symptoms.
3. I was personally offended by the brief discussion of antidepressant side effects which, when mentioning sexual dysfunction, focused solely on MALE sexual dysfunction and completely ignored the fact that most females on antidepressants cease to experience orgasms. Apparently I’m a filthy whore who shouldn’t be concerned with my sexual enjoyment.
Multiple Sources, Multiple Ways to Deal…
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
O’Connor’s book is a tremendous breath of fresh air if you’ve read other books on depression that assume that depression (never mind who is dealing with it) comes from the same old Freudian reasons. Nope. O’Connor recognizes that depression comes from multiple sources: chemical, nature, nurture, habits (both bad and “good”), and he offers practical (rather than just theoretical) ways to approach the practical problem of depression. Can you give 5% more attention to the issues that affect you? Are you willing to give yourself 5% more notice? Even if you think you don’t deserve it? Your willingness to try could make the difference between hopeless repetition of methods that don’t work and hopeful experimentation that can make you more of a participant in your own life.
Best prescriptions for post-depression I’ve ever read
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This book is the only one I’ve read that deals with life ‘after depression.’ Warning signs, helpful hints, it has it all. I’ve ordered two copies; one for me (in the last stages of therapy); one for my best friend (in earlier and more fragile state). Hers I hope will help her husband understand what she is going through.
A great summation of a confused subject: depression.
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
As a lifetime sufferer of depression, I’ve read my share of self-help books, most of which didn’t seem to address the real problem and the terrible suffering in a way that I could translate into progress. This book opened up the mystery and offered just the most practical, everyday advice. I’ve been going around preaching it to my friends so much that they call it “The Book.” Not to sound too effervescent, but even in the few weeks since I put his suggestions into effect, I’ve found myself laughing more: always a good sign. Really worth the time to read and reread if you or someone you love is tormented by this illness.
Practical; offers hope, understanding from two perspectives
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
What a gem! I’m impressed by the dual approach — therapist and sufferer — and the compassionate perspective. I think anyone, whether or not suffering from depression, can glean many worthwhile concepts and ideas from the book.
It’s written so that the lay person gets a good understanding of some of the technical stuff, and the therapist gets a good understanding of the sufferer’s state of mind. Most important is the hope I think it can give to someone who has never been exposed to or offered the tools to make changes in his own life.
Not your average Self-Helper. A Definite Cut Above
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
For anyone who has suffered from, is suffering from, or cares for someone suffering from depression, this book is a MUST OWN. Being in one of the above referenced categories, I had heard that this book took a much different approach to what’s behind depression.
I was NOT disappointed in the least.
Rather than tell you how to fix depression, it EXPLAINS depression. Understanding is by far the best tool in most anything to combat this illness. One of the most valuable insights I have taken from this book was on medication. This book deftly explains how the physical manifestations are often not in need of medication to remedy.
It delves into aspects of depression I have not seen in an other ’self-help’ book. It doesn’t provide easy answers, and in some cases, it doesn’t provide an answer; it simply gives you the facts about this often misunderstood disease and presents in in a manner that is neither intimidating or discouraging.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
This book had far too much fluff and not enough substance.
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
In terms of meaningful content, the preamble of this book lasted nearly 300 pages. Not until page 307 did the author constructively address the crux of how one can really deal with depression. And even those twelve points were glossed over and didn’t provide a lot of insight. Most of the text was a review of Depression 101 with very few new and creative thoughts as the subtitle might suggest. There were numerous times when the author got sidetracked from the main theme of depression and ended up discussing issues not relevant to his intended message. Throughout my reading, I constantly yearned for some new profound thoughts or theories which might help someone fight the insidious disease of depression. Unfortunatley, the information just wasn’t there and the book came up lacking as a serious self-help resource. From a positive perspective, the book is fairly non-technical which should make it easily understood by most readers. If there was a money back guarantee based on satisfaction, I’d be at the front of the line.
Absolutely the best help you can find
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I could hardly believe how much hope reading Undoing Depression has brought into my life. Every time I spend some time with the book I come away with something helpful. An internet search led me to the web site of the same name, then I purchased the book. Dr. O’Connor knows what he is talking about…he is both a psychotherapist and a sufferer of depression, plus he has a beautiful way of explaining things, a way you can get through even when you are feeling very overwhelmed. Thank you, thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience with others.
Thoughts and Actions That Can Overcome Depression
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
The author is quick the point out (and he is correct) that this book will not improve or cure depression by itself. You need professional help for that. Instead, the purpose of this book (which it magnificently addresses) is to describe what the depressed person and the depressed person’s family and friends need to be doing to provide the maximum likelihood of overcoming depression. That’s a reasonable promise and premise for a book on this important subject, and you can begin to overcome your ignorance (and the harm it can bring) by reading this book and acting on its advice.
First, the bad news. Depression is increasing. Worse still, the younger someone is, the more likely that the person will experience depression sometime. Even worse, many people are undiagnosed, and suffer alone with their affliction.
Second, the good news. Around 70 percent of all those suffering from depression will improve with either drug therapy or mental health treatments. Those who get both do even better.
Third, more bad news. Depression tends to recur for many people.
The voice addressing these issues is an expert one. He is a psychotherapist who runs a community health center. More importantly, he has suffered from depression himself. I doubt if you can get more direct access to what depression is all about than from Richard O’Connor. I admire his caring to share so much of his own pain with us, and respect him enormously for this gift he has given us all.
Depression is currently under reevaluation. No single paradigm seems to capture all of its elements. Undoubtedly, an improved scientific model for it will emerge. There are signs that it can have roots in disturbed relations between Mother and child, family dysfunction, possibly genetic disorders of brain chemistry (like using up seratonin too rapidly), other traumas, and poor thinking habits. Who knows what else may turn up?
Many people try to deal with this problem too much on their own. Families often put up with the depressed person’s behavior, not knowing what else to do. Others reject the depressed person, which will usually make the situation worse. O’Connor lays out common sense guidelines that should make a diference: for depressed people, for those who care about them, and for those who treat them.
The author sees depression as a disease and as a social problem, “an illness to be treated professionally and a failure of adaptation that we must overcome through self-determinination.” He outlines important principles for the depressed person: (1) Feel your feelings (depression is the suppression of feelings — acknowledging those feelings often causes depression to improve). (2) Realize that nothing comes out of the blue (your depressed state has a root cause that you should look for in an event or situation). (3) Challenge your depressed thinking by questioning your assumptions, especially ones that center on meaningless perfectionism. (4) Establish priorities so that your energies go into what will be on what’s most important to you. (5) Communicate as directly as possible to everyone around you. Depressed people are often poor communicators who don’t get their emotional needs served. With better communication, they can experience a more supportive emotional environment. (6) Take care of your self. Learn to enjoy yourself. (7) Take and expect the right responsibility for yourself — for your own actions. Depressed people often feel guilty about things that they have no responsibility for (like the death of a parent or the divorce of their parents). (8) Look for heroes. These role models can empower you to see the way to improve, especially if they were also depressed like Lincoln. (9) Be generous. Helping others puts your own situation into perspective. (10) Cultivate intimacy. This means letting down your defenses so people can see you as you are, and accept you for that. Depressed people often feel disgusted with their true selves, and hide that self from everyone. (11) Practice detachment. Depressed people are often overly critical and pessimistic. Seeing things in the proper perspective can heal a lot of inappropriate pain. (12) Get help when you need it. This may be the most important piece of advice since so many people do not.
The book is filled with personal examples and case studies of people the author has treated, which help make the points easier to understand.
I was astonished to realize that there is no self-help network like there is for alcoholics and those with other mental and behavioral problems. The author shares some experiences with having established such groups that can be a prototype for creating such a network in the future. I think that is an important priority for improving the mental health of our society from what this book shares.
Mental health professionals will find good advice for overcoming the parochialism of whatever discipline they originally trained in, to create links to the other treatments the depressed patients need. Those who provide therapy discussions will benefit from the author’s own assessments of how therapies helped or did not help him. The therapist as caring adult is emphasized above the particular technique used.
I was fascinated by how often this book pointed out problems related to stalls that most people have such as poor communications, procrastination, misconception, disbelief, tradition, independence, purposelessness, wishful thinking, and avoidance of the unattractive. The depressed person seems to have more of these at the same time than the people I work with. Yet both groups have in common that they have not yet learned the stallbusting techniques that can improve or overcome these stalls. To some extent, the lack of understanding of how to focus our minds is one of the causes of depression in our society. So here is another reason to learn the questions and focus that can enormously improve personal and organizational effectiveness. I rate this book a 2,000 percent solution stallbuster, and hope that you will read it and apply its lessons. Whether you are depressed or not, we all will encounter depressed people and this book can make us more helpful to them.
Since reading this book, I have been greatly helped by it in understanding the depressed people I know. Following the advice here, they have made progress in moving away from depression. I am very grateful for having obtained this valuable knowledge.
Help everyone to walk, look, and feel on the bright side!
Everyone should read this book.
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I never realized how many people had the illness of depression until seeing a TV program with Rod Steiger talking about his own suffering. Reading Undoing Depression, I can see that many problems friends and family members have stem from some form of depression in themselves or in someone they have to deal with. I am a teacher and thought this book would be useful in my understanding some problem teenagers I had in classes. Now I find it helpful every day and everywhere.
Helpful and a new angle
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This is a very helpful book with a unique approach, seeing things from a new angle. It should be read by everyone who suffers from depression. Along with this book I bought another book at Amazon on the subject of depression, and this other book has given me tremendous hope as it is inspirational in character, and it also has helped me so much to overcome and avoid depression and I highly recommend it for everybody suffering from depression–it’s called “I Love Me: Avoiding and Overcoming Depression” by Dietmar Scherf.
Best book on relationships I’ve ever read.
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
In addition to helping me cope with a depressed S.O., this gem has more good advice on relationships, marriage, raising healthy children, and living a meaningful life than all the others that intend to do that.
I Am A Little Concerned About This Book
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
I only partially completed reading this book, I became a little concerned with the references and information and therefore had to put it down. On the other hand, this book is a easy read, with smooth flowing sentences.
I use a depressgenic style of thinking myself, and I have read well over 300 books from psychology texts to regular self help. I did find some interesting things in the book, but continued to be concerned over some of the references in the book i.e. Siegleman. There are other attributional therorists that have put forward better theories, but they remain unmentioned.
I was tring to find this person’s educational background in this book and I could not, usually this information is easy to find. The reference is to psychotherapist but unfortunately I believe anyone can meet this criteria.
I would recommend Yapko’s books on depression. I would not recommend the hypnosis as the evidence to support that hypnosis helps depression appears to be unfounded.
Brilliantly insightful book!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Dr. O’Connor served for 14 years as executive director of the Northwest Center for Family Service and Mental Health, a private, nonprofit mental health clinic in Litchfield County, Connecticut, overseeing the work of twenty mental health professionals in treating almost a thousand patients per year. He is a practicing psychotherapist, with offices in Canaan, Connecticut, and New York City. ….In his biography on this site, he states that he believes “depression can never be fully grasped by mental health professionals who have not experienced it.” In Dr. O’Connor’s case, as a therapist, he has a unique and powerful perspective because he is the son of a depressive who committed suicide, has suffered depression himself, and applied the insights presented in his book in his own life to heal his depression.
This book is very well-written, clear and accessible even when the doctor is talking about complex, professional issues in the mental health community. There is a thorough index and plentiful endnotes, as well as a very complete bibliography of recommended reading. The four sections of the book listed in the table of contents are: What We Know about Depression; Learning New Skills; Putting the Skills to Work; A New Synthesis.
I believe this is one of the top books ever written on depression. If you only have time to read one book on the subject, I would heartily recommend you make it this one, because it is utterly brilliant. I personally believe that one of the most profound things a theorist can do is synthesize seemingly opposing or unlike ideas, pulling them together in a comprehensible whole, which is what Dr. O’Connor does so very, very well here. He has thoroughly surveyed the existing information on depression, made clear what we know and don’t know about it, and what most often works, or doesn’t work, to treat depression.
In this regard, his discussion of why we don’t have a comprehensive theory of depression at the present time is wonderful. Within this discussion he states: “The Freudian theory of human functioning has been on its last legs for some time, and we wait for a new theory, a new paradigm, to replace it….[A]lthough there is a wish to achieve a biochemical theory of human behavior, our current knowledge leaves us far from it; and if we had it, it would not answer our most interesting human questions.”
He covers the effects of trauma on depression and the biological basis of mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, manic depression and major depression and how this conception removes stigma. Then he asserts that though symptoms of mental illness are “biochemically mediated, that doesn’t make [them inevitably] biochemically caused….” He is not anti-medication, but he states that medications can’t tell us how to raise healthy children, make difficult decisions, or help us find meaning in life. He believes that “both nature and nurture play a part in the development of depression”–and in its cure. He states that “in depression, you use medication to help alleviate the pain and suffering, but the patient may still feel a lack of confidence, be painfully shy, lack assertive skills, have a distorted self-image…procrastinate…be stuck in a loveless marriage or a dead-end job. The patient must address these kinds of issues…or else he may suffer less but still not be part of life.”
It is this issue that the book addresses very thoroughly: how to engage in a deliberate skill-building program in conjunction with medication (or without it if you are one of the unlucky, sizeable percentage of depression sufferers diagnosed with “resistant depression” because antidepressants do not work for you). In his skill-building program, the author covers emotions, behavior, thinking, relationships, the self, and aids to recovery. He then discusses how to put these new skills to work on the job, in intimate relationships and in the community at large.
An extremely thorough, comprehensive, invaluable guide!
Right on the button
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Very helpful and right on the button. The author shares his personal struggle with depression and has many helpful practical tips on undoing depression. This book is highly recommended, especially since a health professional wrote it and he is really concerned with helping people. Everyone suffering from depression directly or indirectly should get a hold of this book, it will be a wise investment. Another book that I really enjoyed as it helped me so much, and the author addresses the subject very bluntly, is Dietmar Scherf’s “I Love Me: Avoiding and Overcoming Depression.”
The best introductory book on depression
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
This is essentially a secondary compilation of all the current wisdom on the causes and treatment of depression. It imposes no forced integration, but is eclectic and undogmatic, emphasizing the practical. It describes patterns of thought and feeling that the author claims are common to all depressives. For this reader, at least, it is dead on the money. Its most notable insight is the notion of “learned skills” of depression–habits of coping developed to avoid pain, but which perpetuate the underlying depression. The book somehow manages to place on the sufferer no blame for his affliction, but primary responsibility for conquering it. It is, therefore, both comforting and liberating.
The most in-touch book on Depression I have ever read.
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Undoing Depression is by far the most knowledgable book I have read concerning the disease of “Depression”. Undoing Depression put words to the emotions I experience and has let me know that there are others out there going through what I have went through most of my life. Medication and therapy have not been enough for me, though helpful. This book has given me hope that I can have a life worth living. I highly recommend this book for anyone who suffers from the agonizing disease called Depression or anyone who is close to someone with Depression. It will enlighten you, inform you, and possibly save a life!
Two by two got me going again.
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Much of my job required writing, and I was having difficulty keeping it fresh. I was procrastinating and getting depressed about it. A therapist friend told me to read Bird by Bird and Undoing Depression. Amazing how two such seemingly different subjects can have so much in common–inspirational writing, similar messages, down-to-earth authors; there were even some times I had to check to see which I was reading. Maybe it was just because of the problems I was having at the time, but two by two did the trick for me.
This book is all about helping you to get better
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I have put up with depression for most of my life. I still enjoy life, but I just assumed that the depression won’t ever get much better, so I take my medication, work, enjoy hobbies, family and friends to the best of my ability, but still…this book along with Michael Yapko’s Breaking the Patterns of Depression will give you the insights, the practical techniques and the principles that will help you to start to get better, really better. I love the way O’Connor makes this book so completely accessible without “dumbing it down” and the 12 principles at the end are worth memorizing (I have done this). Perhaps the single most important thing I learned is the the need for depressed people to stop being afraid of their emotions - to realize how emotions, both happy and sad, are such limited things that will pass quickly as we move on with our lives. Depressed people, for a variety of reasons, use defense mechanisms that cause problems down the road, and although this may sound so simple, it is also very important to learn (and relearn if necessary). Highly reccommended.
I just read Undoing Depression and already I feel better.
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I have been diagnosed with dysthymia. I was taking medication, but just stopped out of the blue. I felt very alone. The only discusssion or dialog between my prescribing psychiatrist and I, were about side affects of the drug. Although medication made me feel better, I really needed something more. I needed to understand that I’m not alone, to know that intelligent, seemingly normal people are affected by depression. We walk around everyday with the mask of happiness and normalacy, but feel differently inside. Thanks for bringing light to this area. It is comforting to hear of other successful people who are plagued with depression, but in spite of this setback do lead normal lives and make contributions to society.
Wow
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Very insightful- alot of good information the parts that related to me the most were:
-I found that I do not nor have I ever had depression. I am just likely to grieve when there are problems which is why I feel as I do from time to time- great in one part but leaves me not knowing how to help myself during the month or two long episodes every 18 months so (when whatever is occuring in my life accumulate to the point that I don’t want to get up in the morning.) However, I suspect that my boyfriend has been slightly depressed since his parents divorce 10 years ago- I don’t want to bring it up but after reading this book I think that he has this unresolved issue. I’ll keep this in mind but won’t pursue it with him unless an issue arises where I see it fit.
-Great Marriage Section (there is also a Divorce one that I didn’t read) -I found it very helpful to my relationship now- though I am not married and I am confident that it will help me down the line.
A Must for Anyone Affected by Depression
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This is the best book I’ve read on depression. It’s smart, straight-forward and incredibly useful, offering exercises for living without depression. O’Connor is refreshing in his practicality, compassion - and most of all, his experience with the subject. I recommend it highly.
excellent resource and godsend of a tool
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
The most important thing this book does, is break down depression into understandable and manageable cause and effect. There are always root causes to depression (even if physiological) that the field of psychology has not dealt with as a whole until recently. This book deals with cognitive thought processes and patterns associated with people who have been depressed for extended periods of time , as well as the emotional and social aspects of depression.
Most people who suffer from depression that I have personally come in contact with, are resigned to be dependant upon medications and have lost faith in therapy. This book simplifies depression so that it makes ’sense’ to laymen and it is useful for therapists as well. It also gives hope to depression sufferers.
Insightful & practical
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Richard O’Connor, a psychotherapist who has suffered from depression himself, recognizes that there are many approaches to understanding and healing depression, and rather than evangelizing one tidy but inadequate ideology of depression, he shares his accumulated practical wisdom, which untidily but intelligently incorporates aspects of many approaches. How refreshing! How helpful!
Medication and therapy can both help, he thinks, but we also need to replace depressive habits with new skills that therapy might not teach. The book focuses on these skills, grouped into five areas: emotions, behavior, thought processes, relationships (focusing on communication), and the sense of self. Lest that sound overwhelming, O’Connor notes that “you don’t have to do it all at once. . . . Any chapter, any suggestion, may be enough to get you started on a self-reinforcing cycle of healthy behavior.”
Other books I’ve found helpful:
- William Appleton’s “Prozac and the New Antidepressants”;
- John & Andrea Nelson’s “Sacred Sorrows,” a collection of essays on a wide variety of approaches to depression;
- Cheri Huber’s “The Depression Book,” on using depression as fodder for your spiritual practice;
- Julia Cameron’s “The Artist’s Way,” which I think is a powerful anti-depression book, even though it’s not explicitly about depression and even if you have no particular interest in being an “artist.”
Rewiring the brain without medication
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I found this book quite original and well-written. I come from the school of thought that the greatest component of depression is biological and is most easily undone by medication. Nonetheless, there is merit to what the man is saying, especially in cases of mild depression. I’d recommend the book to anyone suffering from depression. Avery Z. Conner, author of “Fevers of the Mind”.
focuses on your habits
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This book makes a lot of sense to me, it focuses on bad habits that keep you depressed. I have all the symptoms, I didn’t know. The part that got to me was how the depressive are perfectionist that never start on projects cause then you can never fail. That’s me! It also goes into detail how you should be proud of thing you do.
Undoing Depression will be the seminal book on depression.
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I’m just finishing Richard O’Connor’s book and have been bowled over by the scope and readability of it. I feel sure it’s going to be the seminal book on depression. It covers so much! I’m singing its praises. I’ve found great insights for myself, my family members, etc. When will it be out in paperback? It’s so very personal while being very enlightening. Great job, Dr. O’Connor!
Great Resource for Depression
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I have referred all of my depresssed cleints to this book. It is a broad-based approach to contending with depression, and is eminantly usable. O’Conner takes a commen sense approach to a debilitating process, and in doing so, exhibits uncommon intelligence in offering a wide variety of approaches to dealing with depression, which is notoriously difficult to treat and requires a multi-headed approach for best results. No one school is best, and clients benefit from a multitude of suggestions founds in this book.
“A beacon of hope to those mired in quicksand of negativity”
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
After reading a newspaper review of Dr. O’Connor’s book, I decided to buy the book for myself to see if it was as good as the reviewer indicated. “O’Connor approaches depression from both the professional and personal perspective. The road through adulthood–from the sorrow of his mother’s suicide when he was 15–and his own episodes of depression, to his eventual emergence as strong, whole and capable of helping others, runs through his book as a beacon of hope to those mired in the quicksand of negativity.” I couldn’t say it better so won’t even try. Although I rarely read books a second time, I have just reread this one. Again I am overwhelmed by its readability, compassion, and insight. Again, every word seemed to be written just for me.
I usually hate these books but this was great
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Wow, this is a helpful book. The best thing is that he realizes that depression effects, long term (if not forever?), multiple facets of your psyche–behavior, thinking, self-image, relationships, etc., and those have to be systematically addressed one by one and over time. It is the most hopeful yet real book I’ve read on this topic. When I read, “We end up being depressed because we never learn how to act differently–’But I’m so GOOD at being depressed’….” I said, Amen, brother. We don’t need someone else to tell us our self-esteem is out of whack. We need a way to do something about it. Thanks!
Every word reached into my soul and filled me with hope.
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I waited until I read every word to review it, but after the first chapter I knew. Some days I only read a few pages because there was so much to use I wanted to savor the moment. I still will see my therapist, but now I believe we may get somewhere.
A must read!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
If you suffer from depression like me, you need to read this book. The author deals with medical treatments and most importantly, offers suggestions on helping oneself deal with this debilitating disease.
An excellent resource for anyone coping with depression.
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Undoing Depression is a necessity for anyone suffering from depression or anyone who cares about someone who does. Wonderful, personal insights and terrific suggestions for helping oneself. A must!!
A Break-through Book
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I first read about this book in a news article on-line. I was skeptical as many things had not worked in the past. But I was at a point where I needed to do something to pull back from depression. This book started the process of recovery for me. The information in it was nothing less than a ‘break-through’ for me. It helped stop the continual, downward cycle. What impressed me (and convinced and assured me) the most was the depth of experience, personal and professional, the author brings to his writing.
The author helps us understand and diagnose depression. He reviews specific skills for dealing with it and then helps us put the skills to work. A HUGE insight to me was the author’s statement that we ‘get very good at being depressed’. His emphasis is on learning what behaviors make us good at depression and changing them. One must do the work of undoing the depression, and this book provides the tools to do the job. I will use it as a workbook and then as a reference for years to come.
Read this book, which should be called: Life Can Be Better
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
How much can we expect a book to change our life? Three years ago my therapist gave me an assignment to read Undoing Depression. He knew I was a hard case and would have never done so on my own. Since then I have begged dozens of friends [and students] to read it, often having a tough time because “What are you talking about? I’m not depressed.” I tell them if reading for an hour doesn’t produce something they can use in their lives, “I’ll eat my hat.”
Timing is Everything….
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I came to this book during a very depressed point in my life, hoping to find some encouragement and instruction. What I found was a book heavy on content of the sort a depressed person can feel overwhelmed by. I often had to put the book down and wonder Is there no limit to how messed up things can get? The author says he is aware the book might have that effect on some readers. If youre a sufferer of depression, my advice would be to buy this book and use its suggestions to prevent the illness from running your life. Maybe a disclaimer should be included: If you are seriously depressed now, skim this book and wait until a later time to read it thoroughly.
Very informative book, but one major flaw
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
I have lived with a very deep depression for 15 years, slowly making progress back to my happier self. My mother purchased this book during one of my hospitalizations, and I read it thoroughly, highlighting throughout. The spotlight reviewer describes its contents very well. The only thing I want to add is how dismayed I felt when the author wrote off suicide as “stupid and selfish.” This says to me that the author has never been through crippling depression himself. And I certainly hope he never utters such a thing to his patients! Telling someone they’re being selfish for having attempted suicide or thinking about suicide does nothing for them, but only boosts your own ego. Not to mention it’s incredibly selfish on your own part. (I challenge anyone to show me someone who isn’t selfish by nature.) Besides, when a person gets so bad that they’re willing to kill themselves to kill the pain, no, they’re not thinking about you. If I were to bore a drill into your skull, would you be concerned about someone else across the room? I highly doubt it. Would you be selfish for wanting to escape your pain? If the same logic applies, then yes. Would you be stupid? Apparently so. Instead of writing off suicides as selfish, why not step out of your own selfish shoes and try to help them?
Undoing the Doing
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
In the book “Undoing Depression”, Dr. Richard O’Conner has given people a light, a ray of hope, and an in-depth understanding to a condition from which many Americans suffer.
The one thing that strikes you the minute you open the book it Dr. O’Conner’s straight forward, honest way of writing that both envelops and comforts you at the same time. He uses the pronoun “we” quite a bit, building up the idea of a community of people with you who suffer with you. Depression can be such an isolating illness; the fact that there are millions of others who share the same thoughts, feelings, and moods is a blessing.
Each chapter has gems of wisdom that I found myself reading and re-reading constantly, trying to learn and understand his ideas. In these are the source of great knowledge, all designed to propel you forward in understanding what’s occuring inside of you and more importantly, how to break that cycle and move forward. He directly address emotions, relationships, the self, and other concepts in easy to read chapters. He is honest but also fair minded, both of which I appreciated.
I have encountered other books on depression, but this one is practical, user friendly, and full of “can use” information. Anyone suffering from the dibilitating effects of depression can rest assured that there is hope, and combined with treatment options available to everyone today, can find the place where the clouds are really behind you.
Overcoming Depression with the Right Thoughts and Actions
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
The author is quick the point out (and he is correct) that this book will not improve or cure depression by itself. You need professional help for that. Instead, the purpose of this book (which it magnificently addresses) is to describe what the depressed person and the depressed person’s family and friends need to be doing to provide the maximum likelihood of overcoming depression. That’s a reasonable promise and premise for a book on this important subject, and you can begin to overcome your ignorance (and the harm it can bring) by reading this book and acting on its advice.
First, the bad news. Depression is increasing. Worse still, the younger someone is, the more likely that the person will experience depression sometime. Even worse, many people are undiagnosed, and suffer alone with their affliction.
Second, the good news. Around 70 percent of all those suffering from depression will improve with either drug therapy or mental health treatments. Those who get both do even better.
Third, more bad news. Depression tends to recur for many people.
The voice addressing these issues is an expert one. He is a psychotherapist who runs a community health center. More importantly, he has suffered from depression himself. I doubt if you can get more direct access to what depression is all about than from Richard O’Connor. I admire his caring to share so much of his own pain with us, and respect him enormously for this gift he has given us all.
Depression is currently under reevaluation. No single paradigm seems to capture all of its elements. Undoubtedly, an improved scientific model for it will emerge. There are signs that it can have roots in disturbed relations between Mother and child, family dysfunction, possibly genetic disorders of brain chemistry (like using up seratonin too rapidly), other traumas, and poor thinking habits. Who knows what else may turn up?
Many people try to deal with this problem too much on their own. Families often put up with the depressed person’s behavior, not knowing what else to do. Others reject the depressed person, which will usually make the situation worse. O’Connor lays out common sense guidelines that should make a diference: for depressed people, for those who care about them, and for those who treat them.
The author sees depression as a disease and as a social problem, “an illness to be treated professionally and a failure of adaptation that we must overcome through self-determinination.” He outlines important principles for the depressed person: (1) Feel your feelings (depression is the suppression of feelings — acknowledging those feelings often causes depression to improve). (2) Realize that nothing comes out of the blue (your depressed state has a root cause that you should look for in an event or situation). (3) Challenge your depressed thinking by questioning your assumptions, especially ones that center on meaningless perfectionism. (4) Establish priorities so that your energies go into what will be on what’s most important to you. (5) Communicate as directly as possible to everyone around you. Depressed people are often poor communicators who don’t get their emotional needs served. With better communication, they can experience a more supportive emotional environment. (6) Take care of your self. Learn to enjoy yourself. (7) Take and expect the right responsibility for yourself — for your own actions. Depressed people often feel guilty about things that they have no responsibility for (like the death of a parent or the divorce of their parents). (8) Look for heroes. These role models can empower you to see the way to improve, especially if they were also depressed like Lincoln. (9) Be generous. Helping others puts your own situation into perspective. (10) Cultivate intimacy. This means letting down your defenses so people can see you as you are, and accept you for that. Depressed people often feel disgusted with their true selves, and hide that self from everyone. (11) Practice detachment. Depressed people are often overly critical and pessimistic. Seeing things in the proper perspective can heal a lot of inappropriate pain. (12) Get help when you need it. This may be the most important piece of advice since so many people do not.
The book is filled with personal examples and case studies of people the author has treated, which help make the points easier to understand.
I was astonished to realize that there is no self-help network like there is for alcoholics and those with other mental and behavioral problems. The author shares some experiences with having established such groups that can be a prototype for creating such a network in the future. I think that is an important priority for improving the mental health of our society from what this book shares.
Mental health professionals will find good advice for overcoming the parochialism of whatever discipline they originally trained in, to create links to the other treatments the depressed patients need. Those who provide therapy discussions will benefit from the author’s own assessments of how therapies helped or did not help him. The therapist as caring adult is emphasized above the particular technique used.
I was fascinated by how often this book pointed out problems related to stalls that most people have such as poor communications, procrastination, misconception, disbelief, tradition, independence, purposelessness, wishful thinking, and avoidance of the unattractive. The depressed person seems to have more of these at the same time than the people I work with. Yet both groups have in common that they have not yet learned the stallbusting techniques that can improve or overcome these stalls. To some extent, the lack of understanding of how to focus our minds is one of the causes of depression in our society. So here is another reason to learn the questions and focus that can enormously improve personal and organizational effectiveness. I rate this book a 2,000 percent solution stallbuster, and hope that you will read it and apply its lessons. Whether you are depressed or not, we all will encounter depressed people and this book can make us more helpful to them.
this book is okay
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
I bought this book hoping to find, as the title claims, information that I didn’t already know. While it was very easy to read, and the personal stories were nice to read, nothing I read was new information. My conclusion after reading this book is that there really is nothing like one on one therapy.. no book is going to replace that. If you are truly suffering from a deep depression, please seek therapy, don’t just read this book (although it does have a lot of information). I do think this would be a great book, however, for family members or other people who are directly affected by depression.
Finally, Some Hope
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
This is a book that teaches you how to take control of your depression. It acknowledges that depression is a very real, very serious disorder but it also shows you how to get on with your life and not become a victim to it.
It’s not a contest! Read both.
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Cognitive therapy is an effective method of treatment, one that is so structured that it can be studied because therapists who provide it correctly all do it the same way. Basically its premise is that depression occurs from our distortions in thinking and by changing these distortions, we can cure our depression. So if changing your thinking patterns relieves your depression, cognitive therapy is right for you.
Dr. O’Connor explains this and goes on to recommend Feeling Good as a good resource . Undoing Depression also explains the other ways depression can occur and gives many ways to attack this vicious disease. As I understand it, many mental health professionals believe that feelings and emotions come first and they lead to the distortions in thinking.
But whichever comes first I have found both books by O’Connor (his new Active Treatment of Depression and Undoing Depression) and also the Feeling Good series by Burns to be helpful. When I contacted Dr. O’Connor’s pages for advice for family members, he also recommended When Someone You Love Is Depressed.
This guy knows what he’s talking about.
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Undoing Depression is quite simply the best book on the subject I’ve come across in my 25 years as a practicing psychotherapist. I have both friends and clients giving me nods that say, “This guy knows what he’s talking about.”
I read it again and again.
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Rather than giving the reader the simplistic solutions found in so many other books, Undoing Depression enables you to identify the behaviors that are causing harm–then shows how to replace them with healthier ways to live. Comparing O’Connor to Huber is like comparing Seat of the Soul or Man’s Search for Meaning with Chicken Soup for the Soul. There’s room for both. Sometimes a light touch is what one needs, a new age style is where one is comfortable. However, what I believe is that ten years from now, O’Connor’s book will be the one that remains an important work in the literature.
Outdated
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
Beware: this book was published in 1999. Much of the information is very outdated. Also, as a sufferer of depression, I found that a lot of things that the author claims from a psychotherapist’s point of view are very inaccurate. Treatment has come a long way in the past 10 years, so I would consider checking out a more recently published book.
One of the best of many
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I found this book to be absolutely useful in the providing the reader with tools for fighting the Beast, better known as Depression. The book is non judgmental, the author doesn’t claim to know whether depression is a nature vs. nuture problem. He simply say’s this is what it is, this is how depressed people think, and this is how you need to change that thinking. I personally love to read memoirs of people who have battled depression such as Undercurrents, and The Beast, as opposed to “how to” books about depression. However, this book stands out among the books out there claiming to be “self-help”. If you are suffering with depression and want some help this is a great book to start with.
Practical Tips to Undo Depression
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
This book gives practical tips as to how to undo depression. However, the subtitle, “what therapy doesn’t teach you and medication can’t give you,” is misleading. I bought the book expressly for the purpose of finding an alternative solution to therapy and medication, when in fact, the author DOES recommend therapy and medication– sometimes both at the same time! As an ardent promoter of non-medication solutions to depression, this book was a disappointment. However, the author provides practical tips to combat depression, and as a doctor, admitted that he struggles with depression himself. Reading about the author’s personal battle with depression makes the purchase of this book worthwhile. Otherwise, if you are looking for an alternative solution to therapy and medication, look elsewhere because it is recommended everywhere in this book.
A great alternative to healing depression!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Dr. O’Connor’s holistic approach to healing depression, or rather to prevent the devastating cycles of depression, is unique and encouraging in this world of Prozac & Co. His techniques of rearranging the priorities may finally help a lot of people on their way to avoid the depressive mood swings at all. Another excellent book that has helped me tremendously, and I must recommend for everyone on the subject of preventing and healing depression, is Dietmar Scherf’s “I Love Me: Avoiding & Overcoming Depression”–also available at Amazon.com
It was okay
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
Perhaps if this is the first book you pick up on the subject, you will find it helpful. I had been through many prior to reading this one and didn’t learn anything new, nor did I feel it was necessary to keep on hand for future reference. I ended up donating it to my local library in the hopes someone else will benefit.
As an earlier reviewer stated, you cannot underestimate the effectiveness of one-on-one therapy. This in conjunction with books a trusted therapist recommends would probably be most helpful. Much luck in your search for relief and happiness! :o)
Great book
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Lots of insight about how to think about situations in a whole new light. Very different from every other book I’ve read on the subject (I’m a psych student) in the sense that it discusses various options on dealing with depression and doesn’t make judgements on which treatment is better. I like how it seems to put the power of healing in the reader’s hands.
My Opinion of this Book
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I am still reading this book, but so far it has very good information. I bought it for my son, who suffers from depression. He is 26 years old, and has Traumatic Stress Disorder from being in a car accident where another boy was killed. Deep down he blames himself, although it was ruled an unavoidable accident. He also has ADHD as a child, which began his low self esteem.
I am reading the books I ordered before I give them to him.
Best book I’ve read on how to help oneself in the face of depression…
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I found this book by Dr. O’Connor highly recommended in a blog I always read (depression-blog at blogspot dot com), and couldn’t agree more with the endorsement. Along with “The Noonday Demon”, by Andrew Solomon, “Undoing Depression” is now my favorite resource on depression. Both Dr. O’Connor and Solomon are long-time sufferers of depression themselves, and that’s what makes their comments so valuable for the rest of us who also have to cope with it, I think. It’s first-hand experience of it, and nothing can replace that. And both Dr. O’Connor and Solomon agree that the best option -apart from physical exercises, meditation, and a good diet- is a combination of psychotherapy and the new antidepressants. From my own experience, I can confirm that. Read it by all means!
Spooky!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This is a very frightening book. I felt as though it was written specifically for me! I have been depressed for a long time and didn’t even realize it. All I knew was that happiness was only fantasy. Thanks to this book, I look at things differently now. It also helped me feel like less of a freak. Depression is very common, and it is OK to admit that something is wrong. The next step is to get help. This book is a great place to start.
Undoing Depression
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I have suffered from chronic clinical depression for over 6 years, due to living in a very emotionally, verbally, and sexually abusive ex-marriage for over 7 years. I am on several psychiatric medications, and have been in counseling off and on for the past 6 years. This book is giving me some help regarding other ways that I can help myself, other than just the traditional ways. I am thoroughly enjoying it, and I would recommend it for anyone dealing with depression. Carol Dixon, Greensboro, NC
Wonderful!!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This book was exceptionally helpful in treating my depression. I definitely plan to keep it to refer back to on a regular basis. I HIGHLY recommend this book!!
An interesting book
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This book will be helpful for everybody suffering from depression. Certain passages let the reader identify with his situation and therefore he’s provided with a glimpse of hope. Another book that I absolutely highly recommend and which is very helpful and effective is Dietmar Scherf’s “I Love Me: Avoiding and Overcoming Depression” also available at Amazon.
Compassion and information
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This book is the most inspiring and direct explanation of depression I have ever read. I think Dr. O’Conner did an amazing and informative job of trying to define the whole experience of depression and the steps one can take to step out of the darkness and toward the light. Depression is isolating and scary and Dr. O’Connor made me personally feel as if I am not alone. Excellent book! Thanks Doc!
Interesting and illuminating, but…
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
if you are depressed while reading the book you may run the risk of appropriating some of the many depressive attributes listed, even though they don’t apply. While the book is jampacked with helpful information on depression it is probably most helpful to family and friends of depressives who seek to understand the nature, symptoms and impact of depression. I would steer depressives seeking the most constructive tools for overcoming depression to the works of Cheri Huber.
wonderful, insightful, easy and interesting read
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I had a LOT of positive things to say about this book, but if you are reading this review you probably dont want to read the same things over and over again, and I would merely repeat the very well written positive sediments that are already written in these reviews.
The one thing I would like to add is that unlike most books on depression which tend to get technical or boring, this book is filled with enough personal and professional anedotes that it is surprisingly interesting. You look forward to reading this book each night.
Dr. O’Conner bravely reveals his painful experiences with depression, in an honest and humble manner. And honesty is a strong point in this book. He makes no ridiculas promises about overcoming depression, he just fills this book with many, many pieces of excellent and solid pieces of advice.
I suffer from minor depression but my husband suffers from chronic depression and this book has helped me to help my husband in many ways.
Thank you Dr. Conners
Inaccurate about drug treatment
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
Has inaccurate information about medications. Says that lithium is a near miracle for bipolar disorder, when in fact it works for only 70% percent of people, for instance. (He even says this in another paragraph). Be forewarned. He says similar things about unipolar depression. It is a book about non-medical approaches to treatment, but I hope someone who knows little about drug treatment will take it accurate. It’s not just information about meds that came on the market after the publication date, too. Please don’t take it at face value.
EXCELLENT!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
What makes this so much better than other books on depression? O’Connor writes from the heart as someone who has suffered from depression. He writes about the experience like I’ve never seen before. And he gives practical advice about how to help yourself. This is a must-have book.
A healing message from an author who knows his stuff
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Unique, in my experience with the subject in its
honest sharing of O’Connor’s own successful fight against a crafty enemy. As a caring professional, he understands both the disease and its tenacity; and
as a man who haas “been there and done that”
he brings a particular passion; and well developed
literary talents to a subject he illuminates with humor, understanding, and empathy
Moore, CT
An absolute must-read for depressives, families, friends) After O’Connor demonstrates that he knows depression inside and out, he offers real-life, plain-language, non-simplistic strategies for attacking each of the depressive lifestyle traits that continue to face many people who thought listening to Prozac would solve every problem. While I am sorry that O’Connor also struggles with depression, I can’t help but think of this book as a gift to the rest of us.
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
As a recovering depressive who believes knowledge is a pretty good weapon, I was already really tired of reading work on depression that is preachy, naive, alien to my experience and/or didn’t tell me anything I didn’t already know. By the time I read the first 100 pages of Undoing Depression, I’d learned more than I ever did in other books or therapy. (And, in the tradition of many depressives, I wept in catharsis.
In Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield (a fellow depressive if there ever was one) talks about the writers he’d like to call up because he enjo! ! yed their books so much. I’d love to call up ol’Richard O’Connor.
One of the top Depression books on the market…
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
The one lone bad review out of 40 should tell you…and the reader from PA was WAY off track..there are four solid books that every therapist should recommend to a person who truly has Depression…and this is one of them. Take it from someone who has fought this horrible disease for 20 years…..this book WILL help you (the other three books are: The New Feeling Good Handbook and the two Depression Workbooks).
YOU CAN RECOVER FROM DEPRESSION!!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Immediately after visiting the Undoing Depression website I purchased a copy. My comments about Mr. O’Conner’s masterpiece: FINALLY a book written in plain, understandable English!!Finally, somebody takes away the stigma of depression and says recovery IS possible. Finally a book compassionately written about how to recover from depression - FROM SOMEONE WHO HAS. His profile of a depressive is right on the mark, and the steps he outlines as the road to recovery are understandable and attainable
Helpful book!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This is a great book. The author shows the reader the root problem and how depression develops in the early stages, then analyses it, and explains how depression can be undone. The book deals with the mind and how patterns of depression evolve. The tips and explanations should help every depression victim. I also enjoyed another book that I strongly recommend as it’s so very helpful, which is Dietmar Scherf’s “I Love Me: Avoiding & Overcoming Depression.”
Worth A Read
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Well worth the read.
Some great insight into depression, with solid direction and advice.
As this book is actually written by a person with first hand experience, it is definitley more believable.
Easy to read as it’s not highly “medicalised” and jargon filled.
I’d recommend it to anyone sufferring depression, or for health care staff and families of those whose lives have become affected.
This book will help you
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
When I bought this book, I told myself it was to help understand my mother better. But, I found that it was describing me! I read it cover to cover in two days. I just couldn’t put it down. I am now on antidepressants and have never felt better. If you think you have depression, you need to read this book. It will definately help you.
very helpful
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This book gave me a lot of insight and helped me to be more proactive in wriggling free of the hold of depression. It was still helpful even though I didn’t do all the exercises and stuff it suggested, even if only for the insight it gave me. I still re-read it from time to time to remind myself to stay on track. While it didn’t magically fix everything (nothing can) it gave me the help I needed to help myself
mental health professionals stink
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
Therapists don’t know what they’re doing and they’re not interested in really helping people. They just mentally torture you by making you relive bad memories. After you tell them your worst memories, they just say something like “thanks for telling me that” and they do nothing to help you. Reliving bad memories only keeps you depressed and angry, which is why therapists have you do it, so that you’ll keep coming back and they get payed. I CURED my depression by reading self help books and eating a highly nutritious diet. The answer is to stop thinking about past hurts and stop thinking negative thoughts and feeling negative emotions. This is the exact opposite of what the “therapists” have you do. Also good nutrition improves your brain chemistry and boosts your energy. I eat fruits & vegetables and take fish oil and some other supplements. I feel good & happy pretty much all the time now and it’s been that way for a long time now. I have my own successful business now and I have a very powerful drive to succeed and improve my life. I am permanently cured of depression and I know I will never be depressed again, because I know all about how to keep that from ever happening again. The books I recommend are “Six Pillars of Self Esteem” and “Psycho Cybernetics.” These are far better than any therapist. Also read some books on nutrition. And I also recommend reading some books on success advice, such as “Maximum Achievement” by Brian Tracy.
Excellent book for those fighting chronic depression
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This is one of the better books I have read on the subject of chonic depression. I think what makes this book so good is that the author suffers from the same problem. This is not written by someone that has never suffered this disease and just tells you to get over it. It is also a good book for the spouse of someone suffering from chronic depression.
This is the most compassionate, helpful book on the subject.
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Sincerity and knowledge flow from each page, and I more completely understand what my wife has to deal with every day. Separate chapters on how the depressed person interacts within the family, at the workplace, in the community were especially interesting. We have used several techniques suggested in the book and found them helpful in keeping me from being pulled in to my wife’s depression. She was so impressed with the change in my attitude that she read the book also and now we both recommend it to everyone we know.
One of the best books on depression
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Once in a while you come across a book on a very important subject that actually makes sense from the first page to the last page … and this is one of these books. If you’ve suffered from depression or are currently depressed or perhaps depression by a loved one or a co-worker has affected you, then this book will help. How? Well, it shows that many depressive trends are based on thought patterns and the author analyses how depression develops and continues to hunt individuals throughout their lives. Then the author offers effective solutions how to avoid such trends and change traps that may lead to depression. Another book that I found extremely helpful and which also focuses on behavioral patterns as well as the roots of depression and solutions to avoid it and be healed from depression is Dietmar Scherf’s I LOVE ME: Avoiding & Overcoming Depression.
Undoing Depression by Richard O’Connor
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I recommend this book to anyone who is suffering from depression. It’s a quick read and it examines depression directly and honestly. The diction is lively and descriptive, not boring and clinical. It doesn’t provide any quick fixes or easy answers, although I’m certain that anyone who suffers from clinical depression already knows that there are no easy answers or quick cures. Best of all, the book is never patronizing; the author writes from the viewpoint not only as a psychoanalyst but also as a patient himself.
depressed teenager
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I’m a depressed teen who went through all of the major depression and now have chronic depression, mostly. My life went to shambles because of my depression, and I mostly kept all of my bad habits from that old depression, namely that I thought feeling ‘bad’ was a normal feeling (’feeling bad’ is not feeling sadness, sorrow, or normal worry but feeling sour and feelingless all the time).
I think he kept the whole thing pretty real throughout the whole book, encouraging us to see where our lives basically fall apart at random events (mine was neglect and abuse) and how basically everyone runs into problems, and that most depressives just get really unlucky. But having gone through it himself and knowing where it comes from, he seems to have mastered a lot of the things, and just from that I give him an A for confidence to come out and say all of this stuff. I think anyone could benefit from the book, but for most depressives who are in major depression, don’t you dare touch this. It’s an amazing resource for the post-depressed who struggle with depressive habits, but it’s a terrible tragedy for people who are depressed. It will probably only make them worse as they continue to think about how ‘good’ they’d feel recovering. For them I just recommend lots of relaxation and therapy, and time to get over it.
Good luck to anyone who reads this book. (It’s an easy read.) May your depression be swift to leave and/or may you gain whole understanding of the problems that depressed people have.
Undoing Depression keeps on giving, leads to Happy At Last (or vice versa)
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I read it when it first came out, keep going back to it for reinforcement. Now Richard O’Connor has a new book that takes on the last step in recovery from depression. Getting back your “self” to a normal level comes first, then get HAPPY AT LAST, a terrific book for everyone. We can all learn how to raise our happiness “set point” there. I highly recommend it. I gave my copy to my sister, who is depressed and won’t own up to it. She would have refused to look at a book on depression, but after reading Happy At Last, she picked up Undoing Depression because she became a fan of Dr. O’Connor’s writing.
for anyone, this book is amazing!!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I can’t say enough good things about this book. I was diagnosed 10 years ago with depression and recently have gotten worse, this book literally fell into my hands at the bookstore I work at. It was a wonderful gift from God, I bought the book that day, and I’m sooo glad.
This book is great for anyone, those suffering from depression, those loved ones have depression, and any mental health professionals. I wish I could buy a bunch of this book and hand it out to people. It’s given me more hope than I can explain for my my recovery. I know it’s going to take a lot more work than just reading this book, but Dr. O’Connor helps you realize that in this book.
Please, if you are suffering from depression, pick up this book, Dr. O’Connors’ insight is amazing, he’s been there himself and seems to write about so many feelings I’ve thought and felt. He knows where we’ve been and he’s helping me get where I want to be.
POSITIVE ATTITUDE, BUT NOTHING NEW!
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
Having studied psychology and being a counsellor, I agree with the much of what the author has written. His logic and thoughtful insight are obviously born from his credentials, research and experience, which contributes to the positive side of the book.
However, the downside of the book is simply that this “new” theory is, in fact, not new. The author’s philosophy that un-doing depression by replacing depressive patterns of thinking and behaving with a more effective set of skills, is sound, practical advice. However, his theory of taking responsibility for your own actions, acknowledging your feelings, and sharing what is troubling you by improving your communication skills has been promoted by many health care and holistic professionals for several years now. It is a theory I, personally, have taught in stress management classes for years. The words may vary, but the same message can be found in many existing self-help books, inspirational books, stress management books and text books. Severe or chronic depression requires professional therapy and often medication, but holistic methods are certainly useful in certain cases. I gave the book a three star rating for its sound content, but the book also lost two stars in the rating because the message was extremely repetitious of many other books. There was simply nothing new here to grab the reader’s attention.
This is the book you’ve been hoping and searching for!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
If you, or someone you love, struggle(s) with chronic depression, this is the book you’ve been searching for. I’ve renewed it through the local library so many times it has sort of become silly - except it is such a valuable resource for me. (I’m finally buying it so someone else can have a turn.) This book offers honest, straightforward evaluation, practical behavoral guidance, thorough professional explanation, and heartfelt support that resonates. Try explaining to someone who’s never struggled with depression what it is like to wake up and try to convince yourself you can survive another day. What an amazing revelation to realize that life doesn’t have to be this way - and how wonderful to be taught techniques to “undo” this sort of behavior. Thank you so much, Richard O’Connor.
This Book saved my life!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This is the most informative, easy to understand book about Depression I ever read.
Suffering from this illness is hard enough. This book makes learning the facts about the disease and how to help yourself recover so easy. It’s my bible! -J
This is an excellent book.
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This book describes depression as an illness, rather than an emotion. It describes clinical depression, but also give the depressed person aids to moving out of his/her depression using steps similar to the 12 step program. It gives one power to heal. The author is psychologist who suffers clinical depression, and he offers both his professional and personal view. The author uses, but clearly explains, medical jargon. This book is support for one who suffers clinical depression.
Finally, Some Hope
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
This is a book that teaches you how to take control of your depression. It acknowledges that depression is a very real, very serious disorder but it also shows you how to get on with your life and not become a victim to it.
Helped me understand I wasn’t alone
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I recently pulled this book off my shelf to give it to someone close suffering their own depression. I read it - and many more books - years ago when tackling my own illness. Paging through and seeing all the underlines and dog-eared pages, I recalled how this one book along with group therapy is what helped me pull though. I could identify so much with what I read and was re-assured that I wasn’t alone in feeling those thoughts. This book is not full of self-help exercises as the genre tends to be - frankly, I wouldn’t have had the energy at that time to do them and would have felt discouraged by my failure to do so. Reading it was like having a therapist available at any time of day to reassure me that it was going to be okay.
Take it from a skeptic like me!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I srarted reading this book, quite skeptical about what it could do for me. But as I continued reading, I realized that so much of this book resonated with me. I kept underlining and circling passages in the book, because they quite accurately reflected my own self-destructive thoughts and actions. I realized that I had been repressing so many things, even though I had been in therapy. You only come to terms with what you face up to yourself, and this book really helped me face up to a lot, even things that professional therapy could not bring out! If you think that you are above (or below) the reach of such self-help books, then think again!
When you want to enjoy life again, read this book!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I always wondered why everyone else was having more fun than I was. Then I was diagnosed with clinical depression. After medication and therapy I began to understand why I was not happy even though I didn’t have a terrible lot in life. When my sister found Dr. O’Connor’s undoingdepression web site listing a local appearance, we attended. He was so caring and informative and makes so much sense. The fact that it worked for him and it shows in his manner and his words is constantly reassuring. Even if you’ve read them all, this book has something valuable to give you.
The best hope for recovery available anywhere.
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Undoing Depression doesn’t put “all its eggs in one basket”; it takes the best of all the other methods I’ve investigated, mixes in new insights and techniques, and has saved my life. Dr. O’Connor is well-informed and informative. By combining his knowledge and training as a psychotherapist with his personal experience, he has come up with the best hope for recovery available.
The part that was left out
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Full of tips on how to manage your depression for the rest of your life, by a fellow sufferer. As a personal coach, I’m aware of the high and growing incidence of depression in our society, and wanted to learn what I could do as a coach, and also as a friend, since I cannot dispense medicine or therapy, though I recommend both. I found this book extremely helpful and pragmatic. These are things individuals can work on themselves. Well written, useful information. I’m glad I read it. I feel more useful now to clients and friends who suffer from depression, and have a deeper understanding of what it’s like.
Great Overview of Cognitive Therapy for Depression
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This is an excellent book for anybody who struggles with depression. Fully explains cognitive therapy, how thinking determines emotions and therefore to manage emotions one needs to manage one’s thinking. It can be done. Also recommend Depression is a Choice by A. B.Curtiss for more information on how depression works neuroscientifically and how to manage it with directed thinking.
This book should be prescribed by your G.P.
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Having been on medication for depression for several months I was still not feeling that I was back to my “true” self, and apart from giving me further medication my G.P. was not really showing me how to undo my depression. But what a difference this book has made, it has put everything into perspective and helped me to plan a way out of my depression. I would urge anyone who is being treated for depression, or even thinks they may have depression, to read this book. It is packed full of information that your G.P. hasn’t got time to talk to you about. It is easy to read and very informative.
A Life Saver
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I am not even clear as to how I heard of this book, but I bought it within the hour and am now on my second reading. Keeping the journals has been of tremendous help, although at first they cause some discomfort. But as I continue them I am learning much about coping with depression,and where and how to go about recovering from it. I have been on medication for nine years with only marginal results. Now I am hopeful for the first time in forever that I might regain some of that VITALITY which depression has sapped from me.I haven’t read FEELING GOOD, but I can’t imagine it is is any better than this one. Thanks you Dr. OConnor
Excellent resource
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I bought this book because of the reader recommendations and they were right! I have been depressed for almost 2 decades now and I have had more treatment than most people have in a lifetime. I thought I had read all there was and knew all there was about depression and I had a major breakthrough from this book. It is very easy to understand the concepts in this book, and the descriptions of depressives offered some insights into why I do some things I do - I never realized that some things I do, that I had attributed to my “personality” are directly related to my depression, and that these things can be changed. This book was a real eye opener, and I thank the author for writing it.
Great insights on relationships and communication.
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This book works as a guide for getting along in all kinds of situations. I picked it up in the library because of its unusual cover and got hooked by reading some of the case studies. Interspersed with the author’s personal story adds to the readability. I hope he writes one not only centered on depression.
Absolutely excellent
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I am completely impressed with this book. As being a fairly learned person as well as having read a MULTITUDE of books on the subject, I have found none which come anywhere near the excellence of this book. Above that, it is also extremely readable, not at all dense or boring.
This is one of those books where I find myself underlining every other paragraph because something the author has written rings so true or clarifies an aspect of depression so well. And on a subject so poorly dealt with on the all and all, it is a refreshing book and immensely helpful. It is inconceivable that one would regret having spent the money for the purchase price of this book.
I unequivocally recommend this book. 5 stars is not a high enough rating.
From the ethereal to the concrete
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
From the ethereal to the concrete; Dr. O’Connor put into words all that I have felt (or not felt) for 30-some years. Never before had I been able to name my turmoil. With knowledge comes the courage to try to swim to the surface, and into life. His book helped me tremendously, and continues to do so with each re-read.
A lot of help!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Great book. Has helped me to understand my depression and what I can do to help myself.
A must-read for a depressive or his/her family
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
O’Connor is one of the best writers on depression I’ve read in 30 years as both a mental health professional and a sufferer. He weaves together research, theory, case examples and his own experience with depression in such a warm, down-to -earth way that reading this on depressed days, I am comforted that it really IS possible to undo depression. Self-help exercises are included. His main point — that whatever “official” therapy we take in terms of counseling or medication, change is really about noticing our depressive thought and behavior patterns and working to change them, is what it’s all really about in my experience. He acknowledges the pain and hard work in this — again, one of the unique aspects of his writing is its warmth and tone of friendship and fellowship for the journey.
Undoing Depression got me headed in the right direction.
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Everything seemed to be spinning out of control. This book has helped me take a pause, see what I was doing that was causing problems, and provided the tools to begin to undo the bad habits. It also helped me see that sometimes I was not the problem, and gave me the strength to assert myself. Thank you Dr. O’Connor for writing this book.