Customer Reviews

Lifting the Weight: Understanding Depression in Men, Its Causes and Solutions

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Dr. Kantor has added immeasurably to the literature on depression with his latest book. This is the only book I know of that focuses not only on the big but also on the little things that mean a lot and represent some of the real issues why men get depressed. My friends who went for help for depression wound up getting two words out to their psychiatrists then getting medicated; or seeing someone who dealt with early experiences but not the here and now, or only handled the major losses and rejections but not those little things that stick in the craw and are really the route to big,deep, depressive disorder. This is the arena where Kantor fight depression, and what he has written should be read by all men (and women) who suffer from an affective disorder and want to know what is really causing it microscopically and how to enter that microscopic world of the depressed man they love and then take action to reduce its ravages.

Very well-written compassionate and insightful treatise on how depression develops and gets diagnosed in men differently than women. (Also discusses ways in which gender does *not* seem to make a difference.) Full of very good insights, although at times the author gives examples from his own *life* (not professional practice, but own personal life) which seem oddly out of place (they often seem meant to disparage someone who has criticized the author, interestingly including via Amazon's reviews!); it hinted of narcissism to me.

But the author more than makes up for by the quality of the discussion, including addressing political concerns (sometimes driven by feminism) which so often seem to poison common-sense and humane responses to the suffering of real people. Note that although the author has written other works about gay men, this work is not simply designed for gay men only, although it certainly uses examples from the lives of gay men whom the author has treated, he also uses examples of heterosexual men (and women) throughout the text (most importantly without condescending or pathologizing them because of sexual orientation; I am a heterosexual male myself and very sensitive to this kind of reverse discrimination trust me.)

As an end-user (or "consumer") I would say this book is more oriented towards the lay public than professionals, which gives it a slightly different tone than some of his previous works (which I've leafed through and seem more designed for professionals). Altogether an excellent work which combines compassion, insight, good-writing, and personal and professional experience(s)--I almost gave five stars (which I rarely if ever do).