Customer Reviews

Overcoming Depression: The Definitive Resource for Patients and Families Who Live with Depression and Manic-Depression

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Over the past months I have read many books about depression and bipolar disorder, including the 1992 version of this book. Out of all the titles I have read, this is the one that I feel would be most helpful to my loved ones in understanding what goes on inside my body and my head. It uses simple language, and all information is presented in a factual yet empathetic manner that will allow anyone at any age or reading level from adolescent to elderly to grasp.

This is the first book my wife, Melissa, and I bought after I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder (manic-depression) in 1989. Today, with its newly revised and updated version, "Overcoming Depression" is still my number one recommendation to all my readers.

Education is the key to fighting these brain disorders and the stigma that is associated with mental illness. "Overcoming Depression" is invaluable because it teaches the sufferer and the supporter everything they need to know about diagnosis, treatment, coping skills, research and even recovery - and it is written so anyone can easily understand it.

Melissa and I give this book credit for saving my life and our marriage. It saved my life because it taught us what we needed to do to beat my bipolar disorder. It saved our marriage because it taught Melissa to understand my brain disorder. This understanding allowed her to be more patient with me until I found a treatment to end my suffering, and it taught her how to best support me during that nonstop five-year struggle.

If you can only afford to buy one book about depression and bipolar disorder, I encourage you to buy this one. Again, I recommend it to all my readers and anyone dealing with these brain disorders - including both sufferers and supporters.

If you are trying to work through your depression, then this book isn't for you. For the common layperson, this book is too technical. It tells about the history of lithium, it's full of charts, diagrams of the brain, and statistics. There is a whole section on having someone committed and costs. I'm sure this information may be valuable to some people, but the book should be titled something else. I don't see how it benefits someone "Overcoming Depression". Most of the pertinent information about this illness can be found in other resources. Save your money.

First of all, one must say that Dr. Papolos has written a very comprehensive book about depression. There are plenty of sections that are written in a non-technical way. He made sure the symptoms of the various disorders and sub-categories of them were outlined right out of DSM-IV, and the information about financial problems that accompany serious bipolar or depressive disorders is very complete, pragmatic, and helpful. The explanations concerning medications is somewhat incomplete but nonetheless practical and useful (especially the charts). It may have been better to have focused more on the medications themselves rather than their history. Some of the paragraphs on side-effects seemed redundant to the point that it became "filler" material. I was disappointed, for example, that he did not give a thorough explanation of clonazepam, an oft-used sedative, while he devotes pages on medical history, especially lithium research.

Certainly the technical chapters are hard to understand; but then again, that might be exactly what you're looking for: a detailed, cmprehensive analysis of the biochemical aspects of depression and mania as well as the evidence suggesting genetic vulnerability. It may even help the "lay person" by easing his or her anxiety about taking medication by explainin how exactly the pills work.

There were two major disappointments, however. First, the book minimized the issue of adolescent depression and/or mania by dedicating only ten pages to it. I do have a bias, but any good text about depression or mania, unless the cover page explicitly states the audience to which the book was addressing, must dedicate a great amount of energy to mental illness in children and even a section solely for teenagers who may or may have known friends suffering from such disorders. Psychiatry depends heavily on risk reduction and crisis prevention because "treatment" per-se may not be able to be administered in time. Second, although bipolar disorders may have more severe symptoms, the book seemed to allocate too much of its pages to mania instead of depression. Both are equally dangerous and painful, yet Dr. Papolos seemed to focus a little too much on mania (dysphoric or elated), leaving patients with unipolar depression feeling somewhat left out. That is not to say they were ignored but that there existed an unfortunate imbalance.

Overall, however, I learned much about bipolar and unipolar disorders. I still have yet to find a book about personality disorders, but this is definitely one of the better works concerning mental illness. Moreover, Dr. Papolos includes a great possibility for another updated version which I am greatly interested in. However, these feelings arise only because the book satisfies most of my needs. To many, "Overcoming Depression" may not be the right pill.

THis is a practical book that can help the people dealing with depression and those who live with them. Good delievery

As a clinical social worker and marriage and family therapist who has worked with many people who suffer from depression and manic depression, I believe that this book is a wonderful resource for those with affective disorders as well as their families. I have recommended this book to many people.

The book deals with the symptoms and diagnosis of depression and manic depression. It also goes into the full spectrum of possible treatments - - talk therapy, medications, cognitive therapy, ECT, etc. Importantly, the book discusses the impact of depression on family members and loved ones, while also providing support and hope for those who suffer with the disease. There is also a chapter on getting good professional help and a list of support groups that are available.