Over the past year, 16.5 million Americans—1 in 13 adults—of every race, age, and socioeconomic class experienced at least one major bout of depression. These numbers have been steadily rising, and sadly, one third of people who feel the unbearable pain, hopelessness, and self-criticism of depression never seek treatment. If not you, then someone you know most likely hides within these statistics, suffering in silence. The good news is that with effective treatment you can overcome depression—and once you do, you have a good chance of preventing its recurrence.
Beat the Blues Before They Beat You, the follow-up to best-selling author Robert Leahy’s The Worry Cure, outlines the causes, symptoms, and treatments for depression in a clear and easy-to-read manner. Real-life patient stories combined with simple step-by-step instructions help you understand depression. Learn what triggers your moods. Figure out how to defeat feelings of fatigue, loneliness, and hopelessness. Design a plan to develop self-confidence. Determine what treatments—both medication and therapy—are available to prevent relapse. Beat the Blues Before They Beat You is a collection of the most powerful tools in cognitive therapy to help you curb your thoughts and behaviors, so you can begin to feel good again.
{"itemData":[{"priceBreaksMAP":null,"buyingPrice":14.16,"ASIN":"140192168X","isPreorder":0},{"priceBreaksMAP":null,"buyingPrice":12.27,"ASIN":"1400097665","isPreorder":0},{"priceBreaksMAP":null,"buyingPrice":11.29,"ASIN":"1401921647","isPreorder":0}],"shippingId":"140192168X::W8%2BLmE0aZSdrlHpCUvgz%2BXOVf1p3URjhAGaa7C20V5Jol0uyDFOGm1SyG%2FNUAA96UODMXXXja05suJmgdu2ziHQYtp24lJ7tB9eKAfsbWKnfexIa7Nswrw%3D%3D,1400097665::VSWOcZcAsf5ddMHBQgCBmYq0VvhZkGZazKLAYpnS1usOiiVwjWCsLymP%2B9XrT54DMRszPrEjCL4MJiX5mIliJ9vRKGOobUMM6zkR4zzjzC3zmUURkk9%2F7g%3D%3D,1401921647::aPedRofF8g8D%2FtVsgHKqAg3kSSGu0w4i1MTfYdOcQ56aJd9atxCK8XI3ljAOy2SWpRzTaXs1IjsmVHZ9jnH9ihtOOHfdyKohwWhMLCAj6vYDNEmX%2BiUy0Q%3D%3D","sprites":{"addToWishlist":["wl_one","wl_two","wl_three"],"addToCart":["s_addToCart","s_addBothToCart","s_add3ToCart"],"preorder":["s_preorderThis","s_preorderBoth","s_preorderAll3"]},"currenyCode":"USD","shippingDetails":{"xz":"same","yz":"same","xy":"same","xyz":"same"},"tags":["x","y","z"],"strings":{"addToWishlist":["add to wishlist","Add both to Wish List","Add all three to Wish List"],"addToCart":["Add to Cart","Add both to Cart","Add all three to Cart"],"showDetailsDefault":"Show availability and shipping details","shippingError":"An error occurred, please try again","hideDetailsDefault":"Hide availability and shipping details","priceLabel":["Price:","Price for both:","Price for all three:"],"preorder":["Pre-order this item","Pre-order both items","Pre-order all three items"]}}
“Beat the Blues Before They Beat You is a masterful guide by a masterful clinician. It lays out the typical problems of depression and provides clear explanations as to how to solve them. This is a must-read for anyone suffering from depression—and who hasn’t at some point in his or her life?”
— Aaron T. Beck, M.D., Emeritus Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania, winner of the Lasker Award in Medicine
“If you are depressed or vulnerable to depression, this book is for you. Written by one of the world’s leading experts in cognitive behavior therapy, it provides a thoughtful and balanced account of depression and how to overcome it using tried and tested strategies.”
— Christopher G. Fairburn, M.D., Professor of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, author of Overcoming Binge Eating
“Dr. Leahy is unique in the mental health field in his combination of high rigor, accessibility, and readability to consumers and clinicians alike. His new book, Beat the Blues Before They Beat You, is the epitome of these qualities, and will be of genuine help to those who suffer from depression.”
— Thomas Joiner, Distinguished Research Professor and Bright-Burton Professor of Psychology,author of Why People Die from Suicide
“Beat the Blues gives clear-headed, concise, and practical guidelines for tackling the most common problems in depression. Based on the most current research and clinical work, Leahy once again gives you the tools to help yourself overcome your depression. It’s a book that you can pick up and start using today. Empowering, engaging, and enlightening.”
— Allison Harvey, University of California, Berkeley
“Eminently readable and practical, this state-of-the-art book provides compassionate and user-friendly help for beating depression. I highly recommend it both to practitioners and their patients.”
— G. Terence Wilson, Ph.D., Oscar K. Buros Professor of Psychology, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
“This book is sure to provide hope and relief for those suffering from depression. Drawing on well-researched techniques, each chapter is filled with strategies and tools to help conquer a major symptom of depression. The writing is clear and direct, and case examples help illustrate each point. The author also provides tools to monitor whether strategies are helping. Once again, Dr. Leahy shows his unique knack for translating the best available therapies into effective self-help materials.”
— Sheri Johnson, Professor of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley
“Dr Leahy has yet again made the most contemporary and effective approaches within CBT accessible to a popular audience. He engages the reader by tagging a scientifically supported approach with commonly reported thoughts and concerns held by people who are depressed. This book illustrates, in true CBT style, how an understanding of one’s own thoughts and feelings can lead to recovery and regaining a purpose in life.”
— Warren Mansell, University of Manchester, UK, author of Coping with Fears and Phobias
“Beat the Blues . . . is an indispensable guide out of the morass for anyone who has ever been depressed.”
— Steven Hollon, Professor of Psychology, Vanderbilt University
About the Author
Robert L. Leahy, Ph.D., is recognized as one of the most respected cognitive therapists in the world and is known internationally as a leading writer and speaker in this revolutionary field. He is the director of the American Institute for Cognitive Therapy in New York City, and past president of both the International Association of Cognitive Psychotherapy and the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies. Leahy has written and edited 17 books, including the best-selling The Worry Cure; and has been featured in The New York Times, Forbes, Fortune, Newsweek, Psychology Today, The Washington Post, Women’s Health, Self, and USA Today. His media appearances include 20/20, Good Morning America, and The Early Show.
I guess I was destined to become a psychologist---given the experiences that I had. My parents were divorced when I was an infant--my father was an alcoholic and he was unable to support us. We moved back to New Haven Connecticut, lived with my Italian grandparents, and then moved to an Irish working-class housing project. We were poor, but we always had kids to play with and we learned the values of honesty, perseverance, fairness, and keeping your eye on the prize. When I wasn't playing basketball, I was reading everything. My mom told me that she couldn't afford to send me to college, but I insisted I would get a scholarship. Fast forward--- I got my undergraduate degree and PhD at Yale. Later I did my postdoctoral training with Aaron Beck, the founder of cognitive therapy. I have been interested in helping people overcome depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and relationship issues. Someone asked me, "Don't you get depressed talking to depressed people?", and I respond, "There's nothing more rewarding than helping people overcome depression". I've written and edited fifteen other books for psychologists-- books on depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, personality disorders, etc. I lecture throughout the world and I am excited that several of my books have been adapted as training texts at leading schools. The great appeal of cognitive and behavioral therapy is that it actually works. People get better. There is hope--even if you feel hopeless. I have also been fortunate to be able to play a role in professional organizations that promote cognitive therapy. I am the President of the International Association of Cognitive Therapy, President-elect of the Academy of Cognitive Therapy and I serve on a number of international and national committees, boards, and journals. My colleagues and I are helping to coordinate the training of cognitive therapists in Beijing, China, and at The American Institute for Cognitive Therapy we are training psychiatrists and psychologists in cognitive therapy in the New York area. I began working on the popular audience book, The Worry Cure, a few years ago. I decided to write an "honest" and "informed" book---one that drew on the best work by the top people worldwide. I have identified seven steps to overcome worry-- each step reflecting not only my own ideas but the work of leading experts. I am honored that many of them in USA, Canada and the UK have told me personally how much they appreciate the work reflected in this book. I owe a great deal of gratitude to the leading researchers throughout the world who really made this book possible. The Worry Cure tries to provide you with a serious understanding about the nature of worry--- the intolerance of uncertainty, the over-valuation of thinking, the avoidance of emotion, procrastination, the sense of urgency, and the maladaptive beliefs underlying your worry. I try to provide you with a full-range of self-help tools--- realizing that no one of them will work for everyone. A number of our patients at our clinic use the Worry Cure as part of their self-help--and they find it reassuring to know that they can now understand why their worry has persisted and how they can reverse this detrimental process. The Worry Cure was named by Self Magazine as one of the top eight self-help books of all time. I was stunned when I read that--- my colleague Rene showed me the story in the magazine. But I have been fortunate to have been able to learn from my patients about the nature of their worry and what helps them--and to be able to write something that can make a difference. My friend, Bill, said to me when I was writing this, "Bob, if you help one person overcome their anxiety it would be worth it." It's like the wise saying, "You save the world one life at a time".
I have been in a funk for a few years, and attributed it to a normal reaction to some significant losses in my life. My depression manifested itself as serious inertia. I have a lot of jobs, hobbies and interests and yet have not been able to work on much of anything in the last few years. I found myself increasingly content to sit alone with my computer on the net and do nothing but read about my former activities/ interests. My daughter was home for the holidays and clued me into the fact that I was likely depressed.. though her suggestion was that I would be happier living somewhere I would spend more time outside.
Something then made me type inertia into google and a reference to the chapter on inertia in this book came up.The words I read spoke to a lack of action on my part. I realized I have been waiting for my inertia / depression to magically lift on its own.
Here is how this book helped me start the climb out of my funk. In the chapter on inertia the doc says that you have to force yourself to get out and get going. ( I paraphrase of course) This is counter to the way I have lived my life - doing what I feel like doing, assuming fate would take care of things. But, I decided to try his advice. I splurged and signed up for a few sessions with a trainer at the gym I belong to - yet never go to. I made the appointments for early morning when I am usually still sleeping in. I also started working with other people during the day instead of staying home alone working on my computer.
I am not saying I did not know that exercise and contact with people can combat depression; I have always known that. I am also aware of the effectiveness of behavior modification techniques. What this book made me see is that I had to actually work to take the steps to stop becoming comfy with my increasing isolation and negativity. Also, I realized that when you are in the dark it is so hard to see the obvious steps that will lead you out. It's like you have to have faith and start walking in the dark, towards the light you cannot see, believing you will see it soon.
I am not completely cured, but its been three weeks and I know I have turned a corner. I am in a more positive mindset, am exercising, losing weight, eating better, have stopped drinking regularly and am back to work on one of my unfinished projects. Most importantly, I have been reminded of my own power to make needed changes in my life. I believe all of us carry that power within.
This book has many easily accessible chapters that address the solid science behind the various components of depression. You will likely find what ails you written about here, along with compassionate advice and practical techniques that will empower you to take responsibility and begin to work on helping yourself. I found the chapters on inertia and rumination most relevant. All in all, this is a well written book and definately worth the time.
I would recommend Dr. Leahy's book not only to clients but to therapists wanting to refine their understanding of depression and their interventions with depressed clients. Each chapter explores a way of thinking common to depressed clients and how that thinking can be changed to relieve distress and make clients more effective in their approach to problems and life in general. I found here, too, some of Dr. Leahy's unique theories on depression. They resonated strongly with my own experience with depressed clients. I had not read of them elsewhere. Dr. Leahy's understanding and ability to articulate clearly and concisely the source and breadth of depression will, I think, help de-stigmatize depression and help the sufferer find self-compassion and belonging. I often cite the World Health Organization's statistics on unipolar depression to help my clients learn that they are not alone, that what they suffer from puts them in the company of good people brought low by a pandemic. Dr. Leahy reassures readers in much the same way. I will recommend this book to clients as a companion to therapy.
Vaughn Roche, LCSW Diplomate, Academy of Cognitive Therapy
Dr. Leahy's "Beat The Blues" is a fantastically accessible, kind, and engaging read. Beyond this, the techniques outlined here are exactly what an evidence based approach to treating depression would call for. This book is an excellent resource for people struggling with depression, their families, and for the many clinicians out there who could use a trusted guidebook to help their clients reach their therapy goals. Another truly important book from Bob Leahy has arrived, and I highly recommend it.
Be Well,
Dennis
Dennis Tirch PhD, Associate Director, American Institute for Cognitive Therapy. Adjunct Assistant Clinical Professor, Weill Cornell Medical College. Diplomate and Fellow, Academy of Cognitive Therapy.
