Customer Reviews

You Can Beat Depression: A Guide to Prevention & Recovery (Third Edition)

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If you're suffering from depression or know someone who is, this slender resource is a quick read packed with solidly researched info and advice. Preston makes it immediately clear he understands the horrible apathy and inertia of depression, structuring his expertise in small bites that are easy to digest. It takes very little effort or energy to find a nugget of help or hope in this book that might literally be enough to save a life. If you're not sure where to turn, if you're feeling helpless, this clearly written, compassionate guide is an excellent place to start finding your way out of darkness.

The focus is on understanding depression and its various subtypes, relieving it as quickly as possible, restoring a sense of personal power, and preventing relapse. Preston deftly guides readers through the process of determining which of several methods he briefly describes might work best for them, identifying circumstances that respond well to self-help and those that demand professional intervention. His review of medications is up to date and straightforward, and his admonition to readers to be patient with their prescribed regimen is a responsibly reiterated point. Dr. Preston emphasizes the hopeful points of each therapeutic mode and gently mobilizes readers to be active partners in their own recovery.

Simple exercises for defining and tracking depressive symptoms and behaviors help draw specific battle lines for what might otherwise be an overwhelming enemy. The coping skills Preston teaches can be absorbed as second-nature reflexes for staying on an emotional even keel long after you finish reading the text. You can track your own progress with the checklists he suggests, adjusting your approach where necessary and monitoring your improvement. No effort toward reaffirming life is too small to be noted as a victory. This warm, reassuring book underscores the choices we all have in how we respond to events in our lives, and offers realistic options for a highly treatable condition. See the light for yourself.

Clinical psychologist John Preston reveals that clinical depression differs from normal sadness in five distinct ways: depression is more intensely painful, last longer, interferes with normal day-to-day functioning, is destructive, and is often a cluster of symptoms involving problems in social interaction, behavior, thinking, and biological functioning. In You Can Beat Depression: A Guide To Prevention & Recover: 3rd Edition, Dr. Preston recommends a series of self- help actions to promote emotional healing when afflicted by clinical depression: accept that it is normal to have painful feelings; express your feelings to at least one other person; stay in contact with supportive friends and/or relatives; maintain a realistic perception of your life and yourself; engaging in problem solving which promotes growth. This guide will enable readers to recognize when and how to help themselves (and when to turn to professionals for treatment). Also offered is an up-to-date consumer guide to medications; material on the prevention of depression; brief therapy interventions, exercise, and other non-medical approaches. If you suffer from clinical depression, or know of someone who does, then give a careful reading to John Preston's You Can Beat Depression.

I believe the book answers most of the questions people have when diagnosed with depression.
Dr. Preston wrote three chapters explaining the many causes of depression. He believes that making sense out of what caused our depression can improve our chances for recovery.
The author includes existential losses as a cause. One of these is the disillusionment or loss of a dream. This often starts when one finally loses hope for a change in our life.
Although brief, the book covers many treatments including self-help, exercise, cognitive therapy, and journaling. His chapters on contolling our negative thoughts are excellent.

You Can Beat Depression By Dr. John Preston is a thorough discussion of the causes and signs of depression. The book is in lay language to help you determine if you yourself or your loved one are experiencing a natural sadness which will pass or if the depression is clinical and need's the treatment of a physician. Dr. Preston discusses the reasons many times depression is not correctly diagnosed because it seems simple to pop a pill and feel better. However, Americans are over-medicated and proper diagnosis of depression will give real help, not just a cover-up. Sometimes talking with a loved one or a counselor will solve the problem, and sometimes an illness needs to be treated. Whatever the root of depression, this book will help you interpret the signs and causes and seek the proper help and cure. You don't have to live with depression. This book offers the hope and help you need.

I am a long term sufferer of depression for over 20 years. This is the first book that I've ever written that truly "gets" it. From beginning to end I felt that the book easily acknowledged and explained everything I've ever gone through in relation to depression. It was such an easy and interesting read from cover to cover. It was quite helpful in explaining the things that you needed to do in order to get well. I was so impressed that I had my husband read the book and it was ah AHA! moment for him, as well. He finally was able to understand the things that I had been going through, understand my mood swings and understand how some of the things that he would do and say were not only not helpful but hurtful. It has put my life on a different track and shown him some better ways to be supportive. I highly recommend this book for anyone who is suffering from depression.

Unlike may authors in his field, John Preston set out to write a book that conveyed useful information that could easily be understood by a reasonably intelligent reader. He has succeeded.

At the outset, he divides depression into two separate categories, Psychological Depressions and Biological Depressions, pointing out that the former lend themselves to self-help treatments and psychotherapy to get rid of cognitive distortions (negative thoughts), while the latter generally require medical treatment including medication. Perhaps most importantly, he provides useful checklists for quickly determining the difference between the two.

For the majority who suffer from cognitive distortions, he provides several suggested treatments to break free from the whirlpool of despair that accompanies depression. These are designed to restore perspective to the person's life, and generally succeed.

At the more serious end of the spectrum, Biological Depression, he discusses the relative merits of various medications and provides a useful overview of Bipolar Disorder (formerly known as Manic-Depressive Illness), which is becoming increasingly common.

My only criticism is that he fails to say that a person who uses medication is likely to have trouble obtaining health insurance in the future because of the excessively high cost of these medications. While that information would discourage people from seeking treatment, it is a fact they should know.

After receiving this book, I noticed that it is published by Impact Publishers, a small publisher located in Atascadero, California. I previously read another of their books ("Luck Is No Accident" by Krumholtz and Levin), which was also excellent. Judging from the listings of their other publications, they specialize in publishing high quality, clearly written, self-help and psychology books. Certainly this book fits that description.

Highly recommended.