Understanding Depression: A Complete Guide to its Diagnosis and Treatment

by Donald F. Klein, Paul H. Wender

Recent studies have found that one woman in five, and one man in ten, will suffer from depression or manic depression sometime during the course of their lives. This is a disturbing statistic, but there is hope, because more and more evidence has surfaced to indicate that many psychiatric
disorders are biological diseases that can be successfully treated with medication. Most people, however, know little about these recent findings. They don't know how to tell if the depression they are suffering from is biological or not, nor what they can do to recover from it if it is.
In Understanding Depression , eminent psychiatrists Donald Klein and Paul Wender offer a definitive guide to depressive illness--its causes, course, and symptoms. They clarify the difference between depression (which is a normal emotion) and biological depression (which is an illness), and
include several self-rating tests with which readers can determine whether or not they should seek psychiatric evaluation to determine if they have a biological depressive illness. They describe the symptoms of biological depression, among them loss of energy, changes in eating habits, sleep
disturbances, decreased sex drive, restlessness, poor concentration and indecisiveness, and increased use of intoxicants and drugs. And they paint a clear picture of how depressive illness can affect people's lives, using excerpts from patient histories to show the progress of each patient from
the onset of depression to treatment and recovery. The authors also discuss the different types of treatment available, including antidepressant drugs, electroconvulsive therapy, and psychotherapy, and they examine the benefits and side effects of psychopharmacological drugs (including the new
antidepressants, lithium, and the controversial Prozac), related disorders (such as panic attacks, atypical depression, seasonal affective disorder, and PMS), and how to get the right kind of help.
Most victims of biological depression often fail to seek help, whether out of guilt or ignorance, and many are often misdiagnosed by physicians or psychotherapists who fail to recognize the symptoms of the illness. Understanding Depression seeks to make the public (both lay and medical) aware
of the issues of biological depression, providing a highly informed and readable guide to this much misunderstood disease.

Genres: Psychology, Nonfiction, Health, Science

192 pages, Hardcover

First published January 14, 1993

Reviews

[Coby Basal · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an excellent read for students of psychiatry interested in better understanding biologic depression. The author demonstrates an exceptional and nuanced grasp of psychopathology, especially of biologic depressive disorders. A limitation of this book is that it does not fairly lay out the evidence for and against cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for treatment of biologic depression. Current models for treatment of depression support a combination of psychotropic medication (e.g. SSRI, TCA) and CBT for optimal outcomes. Nevertheless, the book is a must read for anyone interested in better understanding biologic depression, and it is a must read for students of psychiatry.

[Elaine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Understanding Depression should be required reading for everyone who has ever known anyone with a clinical depression or depression-related illness (manic-depressive/bipolar disorder; dysthymia; long-term depression; atypical depressionseasonal affective disorder; premenstrual syndrome; etc). It covers the diagnostic requirements of these illnesses - how a depressive disorder differs significantly from a general malaise, and/or from general feelings of sadness/loss/grief. If you have ever told someone with clinical depression or another mental illness (or thought it to yourself, or told someone else) that they ought to be able to just 'snap out of it,' or that you can't understand why they're crying/sad all the time, when it's so beautiful outside and/or when they have so many wonderful relationships or other things going on in their lives ... please, please, please read this book.

If we demystify what depressive illnesses actually are, if we study and learn how they actual affect the minds and lives of those with these illnesses, we can stop being so insensitive to the life-threatening struggles they are facing, and start encouraging them (and/or ourselves) to seek the help and treatment that is available. Readily available! There is NO reason for depressive patients to continue to suffer in silence, or to try to hide their very real illnesses. There is NO shame in seeking treatment, because no one deserves to live life with these disorders, and they are, clearly, medically, biologically, disorders. Stop the guilt and shame associated with mental illnesses.

You can begin by reading this book, about one of the types of mental illnesses that affect literally millions of human beings the world over, from every single race, from every single socioeconomic background you can imagine. This is not a first-world problem. It is a very real issue that we as a human race need to stand up and acknowledge, demystify, and de-stigmatize. NOW.

[Paul · Rating 1 out of 5]

I bought this for 50% off at a used book store. Final price came out to $2.50 and I think I paid too much. While the book did provide some good info, I didn't really appreciate all the disparaging remarks towards traditional psychotherapy. I understand the benefits and advantages of medical treatment for depression, I just felt the authors had no respect for psychotherpy and made that clear almost ever other page.

[Di · Rating 3 out of 5]

A succinct guide with different examples of the breadth of depressive symptoms. The only beef I have with this is the authors' insistence on separating biological depression vs. psychological depression, as if the latter could be separated and was a lesser threat.