Virtually everyone copes with significant grief and turmoil at times. WRITING THROUGH THE DARKNESS offers a menu of writing approaches--freewriting, memoir, poetry, and storytelling--to alleviate the anguish, confusion, and pain associated with depression. Quotes and writing samples from students provide inspiration and encouragement, and extensive resources direct readers to additional writing prompts, instruction, and accurate mental health information and assistance. Practical how-to discussions and plentiful exercises demonstrate how writing can help those with depression modulate their moods, develop greater insight, feel a sense of accomplishment, and reconstruct a damaged life. A practical and supportive guide to using creative writing exercises to ease the symptoms of depression. One in five people will struggle with depression during their lifetime. Research-based techniques and stories from a decade of results with a Stanford University writing group for people with mood disorders. Cites the latest research proving the efficacy of writing to help people deal with depressive symptoms and emotional trauma. Reviews"The material is wonderfully presented and approachable from many angles."-Fore Word Magazine
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About the Author
ELIZABETH MAYNARD SCHAEFER is a science journalist, editor, and author who has suffered from bipolar depression. She has a PhD in biological sciences from Stanford University and has taught a creative writing course for people with mood disorders through Stanford's psychiatry department since 1998. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.
THE AUTHOR SCOOP
Read any good books lately? I read almost everything – non-fiction, fiction, poetry, memoir. I’ve recently loved A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini; Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain by Sharon Begley; and Peace Is Every Step by Thich Nhat Hanh.If you had to boil your book’s message down to one sentence, what would it be? Don’t hesitate, just write; you’ll feel better.Tell me a story that other people might not know about you. My husband and I are adopting a child from China – hopefully very soon!How do you cheer yourself up when you're feeling down?Go to a coffeehouse, read a book while I eat a scone and sip coffee, then write out what’s on my mind and plan how to cope.Where were you when you found out your book would be published?I was by a very noisy hotel swimming pool in Las Vegas, where my husband and I had gone to rendezvous with his parents for a few days. It was so loud I could hardly hear my agent on my cell phone!
THE AUTHOR SCOOP
Read any good books lately? I read almost everything – non-fiction, fiction, poetry, memoir. I’ve recently loved A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini; Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain by Sharon Begley; and Peace Is Every Step by Thich Nhat Hanh.If you had to boil your book’s message down to one sentence, what would it be? Don’t hesitate, just write; you’ll feel better.Tell me a story that other people might not know about you. My husband and I are adopting a child from China – hopefully very soon!How do you cheer yourself up when you're feeling down?Go to a coffeehouse, read a book while I eat a scone and sip coffee, then write out what’s on my mind and plan how to cope.Where were you when you found out your book would be published?I was by a very noisy hotel swimming pool in Las Vegas, where my husband and I had gone to rendezvous with his parents for a few days. It was so loud I could hardly hear my agent on my cell phone!
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
excellent book,
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This review is from: Writing Through the Darkness: Easing Your Depression with Paper and Pen (Paperback)
This is a wonderfully wise and well-written book for people with serious depression as well as those with milder, more generalized forms. Schaefer uses her own struggles with mental illness, and her scientific background, to inform her basic argument that significant healing can happen through writing. The book is full of inspirational quotes and stories, some told by the members of her Stanford writing group, and fascinating scientific research. Writing Through the Darkness is a great read and would be useful and enjoyable for both serious, accomplished writers, and those who've never considered writing. A moving, intelligent book.
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
More Than a Self-Help Book!,
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This review is from: Writing Through the Darkness: Easing Your Depression with Paper and Pen (Paperback)
While aimed at people with depression, this book could benefit anyone who wants to explore writing as a means to access feelings and memories. Those who do suffer from depression or other mood disorders will find a rich and helpful resource in this very fine book, which benefits greatly from the author's personal experiences with depression as well as leading writing groups for those who struggle with it. Her relaxed tone and inviting exercises make the book both fun and inspiring to read, and for those who want to dig deeper, she includes much fascinating research about the therapeutic benefits of writing. As both Schaefer and her students explain in the book, writing about your experiences really does help how you feel. But then just reading this positive, compassionate and well-grounded book may raise your mood!
2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
very helpful,
This review is from: Writing Through the Darkness: Easing Your Depression with Paper and Pen (Paperback)
this book is very helpful if you are going through a dark time in your life. It has helped me alot.
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Inside This Book
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Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs):
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unholy ghost, peer writing group, sharing your writing, mental health care professional Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Community of Peers, More Exercises, Auntie Fann, Getting Our Terms Straight, Writing Your Life, Wider Audience, Telling Stories, National Alliance, United States, All Those Depressed Authors, Pat Schneider, Light the Darkness, San Francisco, The Benefits of Sharing Your Writing, Secret Police, Random House Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
unholy ghost, peer writing group, sharing your writing, mental health care professional Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Community of Peers, More Exercises, Auntie Fann, Getting Our Terms Straight, Writing Your Life, Wider Audience, Telling Stories, National Alliance, United States, All Those Depressed Authors, Pat Schneider, Light the Darkness, San Francisco, The Benefits of Sharing Your Writing, Secret Police, Random House Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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