Seeing Beyond Depression [Paperback]

Jean Vanier (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2001

Depression is a painful reality, an illness that we cannot treat by ourselves. We need help to recover from it, and a friend to walk with us through the difficult times.

Jean Vanier, one of the great spiritual writers of our time, has written this simple and clear book about depression. The writing is inspirational and sympathetic as he explores how we can move beyond depression--out of the darkness into the light.

In twelve simple but profound chapters, Vanier goes right to the heart of our hurt, clarifying our feelings and offering us hope. On the left-hand page is a succinct thought that is developed in detail on the right-hand page.

Seeing Beyond Depression will appeal to:

--anyone who has known depression

--families and friends of depressed persons

--spiritual seekers

--fans of Jean Vanier

Editorial Reviews

Review

If we need a friend during the times that depression brings, then Vanier offers himself as one of those friends. -- Spiritual Book News

Its author has lived long and intently with what he describes so his assessments are lucid and his prescriptions credible. -- Prairie Messenger (Saskatchewan)

About the Author

After years of studying and teaching philosophy, Jean Vanier founded L'Arche, named after Noah's ark, a network of more than one hundred communities in thirty countries, inhabited by people with disabilities and their caregivers. Vanier is the son of former governor general of Canada Georges Vanier. Jean Vanier is also co-founder, with Marie-Hélène Mathieu, of Faith and Light, which brings together people with disabilities and their family and friends. There are now 1,300 Faith and Light communities in seventy-five countries.

Product Details

• Paperback: 88 pages
• Publisher: Paulist Press (September 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0809140578
• ISBN-13: 978-0809140572
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 4.5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #817,635 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #33 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Health, Mind & Body > Mental Health > Depression

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Through the Eyes of Love, November 7, 2002

By 

wvano "wvano" (Philadelphia, PA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Seeing Beyond Depression (Paperback)

Jean Vanier, noted spiritual author and founder of the L'Arche communities for people with learning disabilities, gently describes various aspects of the causes of, experience of, and recovery from depression.

Though neither a clinical analysis nor a first-person narrative, Seeing Beyond Depression is informed by both psychological theory and personal experience. Vanier's approach is to provide a meditative mixture of realism and hope intended to speak to the spiritual state of the depressed person.

The author's tone is that of one friend caring for another, and this slim volume would certainly make a thoughtful gift to a friend who is depressed, even if that friend is yourself.