Customer Reviews

Protect Us from All Anxiety: Meditations for the Depressed (Solace for Survivors)

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This book is for those who have been thrown into chaos, doubt, and darkness by depression. It would also be enlightening for someone who has never dealt with depression but would like to understand it better. These meditations are short and appear to be simple. But if you are struggling with depression, they will open the floodgates of emotion, and they will remind you that you are not alone.

Priest Burke describes candidly many of the lonely difficulties that I have had in depression. He confronts his demons in this book; and in doing so, he helps me to confront mine. He learns to accept himself in these journal entries, and he encourages me to accept myself as well. Even in the darkest moments of depression, this book shows that there is light. Even the sketches are beautiful and sad at the same time. There is no easy cure found here, but there is so much more than that. I feel peace when someone else has the courage to voice the terrifying thoughts that come with depression. I am encouraged when I hear a godly man calling depression what it is - an illness. I am strengthened when I see him taking the steps to be healthy and whole.

One thing that I love about this book is its order and organization. It takes the reader through the process of healing slowly. The reader is not bombarded with too much information at once (or forced to deal with their issues all at once time, or told to have hope when they have none). The setup of the book is perfect for reading a couple of pages a day and then praying about those pages (short prayers are included). The book was obviously written and organized with respect for each individual's personal pain and process. Sometimes a meditation will leave the reader to discern its importance and meaning. Thus, these meditations go beyond all of the simplistic self-help guides out there and take the reader to a deeper level, their own personal level.

I don't know how I stumbled across this book, but I am so glad that I did. I've read it once through and am now reading it again. It is challenging me not to give up on healing. It is challenging me not to give up on my God or myself. This is the best work I have read on depression yet.

Depression is, above all, terrifying, and only one who has been there can describe or have any understanding of it. William Burke has done a fantastic job here. His meditations are right on target for those who feel as if they are hanging on to a thin thread. This book will make that thread a lot thicker.

I really found this helpful and practical. Fr. Burke's openness about his mental illness does much to remove the stigma still associated with treatable brain disorders!

During a presentation on depression at the local university, I wondered if the treatment discussed will include spirituality. I then inquired. The response by the speaker was, "no, I don't know enough about it." I then was told of and just finished reading "Protect Us From All Anxiety." Author Father Burke has found a gentle, loving, and compassionate way of defining and informing those who suffer from depression and those who don't know enough about it by discussing his pain and journey to recovery. I applaud his honesty and courage in writing such a beautiful book. Whether dealing with depression with self or family members or friends, or if just curious, "Protect Us From All Anxiety" is the book for all to read.

The first time I saw this book was in a local bookstore. It was the title that originally caught my interest. I pulled the small book off the shelf and begin to skim the information on the back. I was about to replace the book on the shelf--after all, how could a Catholic priest have any insight on depression relevant to a middle aged woman?--when something compelled me to open the book at random and start reading.
I felt as if the author had looked into my heart and soul. This was describing MY experience with depression.
This is the book I keep by my bed in case I need to read something inspirational to get to sleep. It makes me feel less alone knowing that someone else has experienced much of what I have. I would recommend this book to anyone who suffers from depression, or anyone who is just looking to understand what this terrible disease is like from someone who knows. Thank you, Father Burke, for sharing your experience with us and giving us the one thing so often lacking in depression--hope.

The mere writing of this book is commendable. There are not too many professionals, much less priests, who are willing to admit their personal struggles with a psychological illness. Even though times have changed, depression and anxiety conditions are not something most people who suffer them are willing to reveal to the public. Yet, Fr. Burke does just that and provides intimate details to his state of mind and experiences during this period in his life.

The organization of the work is chronological, from the first outset of the depression to the days of recovery. For nearly every meditation, there are black (blue) and white sketches along short prayers or reflections, often from the book of Psalms or other Scripture. The combination of word and image conveys a psycho-visual journey of depression as Fr. Burke experienced it.

I do believe this book will be of great use to many sufferers of depression or a similiar condition. Fr. Burke's work shows that there is "light at the end of the tunnel," to use the proverbial expression. Depression is treatable, and even as all seems hopeless, hope remains, and Fr. Burke is living proof. This is at least the message I received.

One concern: while I do not remember Fr. Burke giving the exact diagnosis of his depression, the description of his sudden inexplicable onset of depression and remission after a period of several months, struck me as similiar to the stories of "major depression" that I have read. Sufferers of bipolar, dysthymic and certain atypical depression often are distinguished from sufferes of major depression in that they suffer long-term, even into years, decades. The motifs of climbing out of the pit within the period of a few weeks, as illustrated in the book, may not apply to persons with these conditions except with qualifications.

A quick-paced, enlightening book, it gives hope to those suffering the ravages of depression.