Customer Reviews

Seasonal Affective Disorder For Dummies

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No need for a long review here. This is a great book on seasonal affective disorder, also known as SAD. It's written in the typical "For Dummies" format: uses layman's terms, icons througout the book to alert you to key points, organized in an easy-to-follow manner (i.e. paragraphs/ideas broken up in the chapters for easier "digestion" of the info).

Also typical of the "Dummies" books is the completeness. You'll learn the symptoms of SAD, if you have it, and what you can do about it. Some treatments covered in the book include:

-light therapy
-cognitive therapy
-exercise
-how to get better sleep
-changing your diet
-medications

As you can see, the book covers a lot of ground and most will no doubt learn a lot- I know I did. For instance, I found out that, according to the book page 222, that exercise and light therapy work EQUALLY well in treating SAD (see Exercise Beats Depression for a more detailed program if that's your thing). Anyway, I say get it if you you want a good, general knowledge of SAD, and to find out what all your options are. Its a great resource!

There aren't many books on this subject, and this is certainly the best one I have come across. Well researched, and well written; the authors do a good job at communicating not only the causes and effects of SAD, but proven and innovative therapies to help people through what is a wide-spread disorder. The authors also do a good job at making the content simple and engaging for different audiences. This will be the go-to resource for both patients and therapists looking to treat Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).

Yes i was very pleased with this purchase. I bought this book for my sister-in-law who has this disorder, she was very impressed with all of the information inside. Very easy to understand also.

While some may be put off by the "For Dummies" series title, I have found most to be excellent starting points. Seasonal Affective Disorder for Dummies by Laura Smith and Charles Elliot is where I would suggest you begin if you have questions or interest in Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). It references up to date research in a practical, readable manner. It is very well organized and written.

While there is a very good chapter on Light Therapy, what I appreciate most is that most of the book addresses other interventions. What is known to date, is that effective treatments for depression are effective treatments for SAD. Another thing I like is how the authors give examples of negative thoughts in various chapters, followed by healthier thinking. Many will see their own negative thoughts and then see how they can begin to change it to healthier thinking.

If SAD is an issue for you, I highly recommend Seasonal Affective Disorder for Dummies.

Mike Miller, PhD
[...]

Concise yet detailed account of symptoms (craving carbs at night!) and treatment modalities of SAD. Lots of drug-free approaches, don't worry.

This is a tremendously helpful book for anyone who is looking for relief from winter's short days. The authors describe how to identify the signs and symptoms of seasonal affective disorder and suggest treatment options, including drug and non-drug approaches as well as practical coping strategies. It's written in a reassuring style that's easy to read and understand. I highly recommend this book.

I found this book to be very readable with another viewpoint on treating SAD. Lights and medications have not worked for me, so I am cautiously optimistic about trying this approach. It almost sounds too simple...but my psychiatrist supports trying it. This next winter will tell the story...
Mary Karen

PROMPT DELIVERY
LONG AND DRAWN OUT
DOES EXPLAIN SAD
CAN GET SAME INFORMATION FROM THE INTERNET
PUBLISHED MATERIAL IS NOT CURRENT

Although there is some good information in the later chapters of the book, it was hard for me to keep reading after the first few pages. I was shocked by how offensive this book was in the first section. As someone who suffers from severe SAD and is trying to learn to live with it, I thought it was extremely insensitive for the authors to say about depression and why there is an increase in today's culture, "[Ancient Cultures] lived in large groups and didn't have a lot of time for whining, brooding, or complaining." Although the authors were citing another psychologist's work, their agreement with this idea completely shocked me. Are they really writing a book that is trying to help others get better and claiming that it's mostly caused by whining? Now I know they go on and state there are some biological reasons but this assertion so early in the book really turned me off and I immediately lost respect for the authors.

I'm sure some ignorant or misinformed people will respond to this review by thinking the authors are absolutely right depression is just for the whiners but for the people who have to deal with it every day, it is much more complicated and harder than that. If it was as simple as to stop being pessimistic or "whining" depression would not occur at the rate it does. I am a very optimistic person who loves life and people...that doesn't mean that I don't have horrible thoughts of depression in the winter and that no matter how much I think "The sun will come out tomorrow and everything is fine" I still feel awful. Most of the times these thoughts are impulses and do not relate to the action or current thought I am having. I've also been in support groups for depression and have never heard of a patient having this condition just because they are pessimistic and can't control their thoughts.

Another idea they infer is that people with SAD are ungrateful, pessimistic, unforgiving, and don't have good connections. They say if you fix these things that it can help. Yes I agree if you do have those thoughts that it would be very beneficial for you to read this book and change your thought patterns. But for those of us who already feel guilty about being sad when we are so grateful and have wonderful friends and always are forgiving (most times excessively) it is just putting more blame on us. To cause someone to feel guilty for their own emotions when they are already feeling extreme guilt is awful. After reading this book I feel worse and more helpless than ever. I would not recommend it to anyone.

(Also, this is the first review I have ever written. I am normally a very forgiving person and wouldn't write a bad review but I don't want others in my state to read this book thinking they are going to get help only to feel judged and worse than before.)