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A Dialogue with Depression
She couldn’t stop it. She watched and she begged, and she got frustrated and angry; she demanded and sought support, but she couldn’t stop it. She was a witness to the downward spiral, but she was helpless. But if she couldn’t stop it, would it be enough to understand it?
In A Dialogue with Depression, author Om Devi shares the journey through her husband’s struggle with clinical depression. It is an expression of her discovered wisdom over the years of a deep emotional acknowledgement of the illness that had surrounded her. With biography and through stream of consciousness to express her observations of herself and her husband, Om Devi uses text messages, letters, diagnoses, poems, thoughts, and research to convey and illuminate the lived experience of depression.
Understanding clinical depression can help others have more awareness and compassion for those who suffer from the disease of clinical depression. Although Om Devi couldn’t stop it or fix her husband, she learned how to understand and forgive herself—and how to share and listen with love and compassion so that we all can hear and heal.
In A Dialogue with Depression, author Om Devi shares the journey through her husband’s struggle with clinical depression. It is an expression of her discovered wisdom over the years of a deep emotional acknowledgement of the illness that had surrounded her. With biography and through stream of consciousness to express her observations of herself and her husband, Om Devi uses text messages, letters, diagnoses, poems, thoughts, and research to convey and illuminate the lived experience of depression.
Understanding clinical depression can help others have more awareness and compassion for those who suffer from the disease of clinical depression. Although Om Devi couldn’t stop it or fix her husband, she learned how to understand and forgive herself—and how to share and listen with love and compassion so that we all can hear and heal.
148 pages, Paperback
Published September 15, 2017
293 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 26, 2018
This is a self-published book by Om Devi, in which she relates her observation of her husband’s depression, which led to his suicide. He was a physician, and they were married for 30+ years. Apparently, he was depressed for decades of that time. She had no real understanding of what he was going through, and struggled to learn, to grasp some insight, that might help them cope. He tried to commit suicide about 10 years before his successful attempt. She says it was then that she first became acquainted with 'clinical depression'. At some point, he moved to another city, and they had only minimal contact.
I did not really enjoy the way the book was organised. She is a photographer, and nearly every other page is a photograph. They are not examples of stunning photography. They are fairly plain, and look like something you'd see if you did a Google image search for 'umbrellas', or 'tree bark'. Some pages have a photo on one page, and one line of text on the facing page.
She includes verbatim text messages between herself, and her husband. Sometimes it is just heaps of boring items. For example, "Her: Plane on time." "Him: Just got off freeway." "Her: Okay." and so forth, and so on. It would be one thing if the conversation were leading somewhere, but it's not.
I admire her for trying to share her experience so that others might learn from it. I do know a bit about the topic, and I am not treating her experience, or his, lightly. The page where she learns of his suicide was heart-rending.
But due to the layout of the book, and the way she shares, it just didn't move me to give it more stars.
2 Stars = Blah. It didn't do anything for me.
I did not really enjoy the way the book was organised. She is a photographer, and nearly every other page is a photograph. They are not examples of stunning photography. They are fairly plain, and look like something you'd see if you did a Google image search for 'umbrellas', or 'tree bark'. Some pages have a photo on one page, and one line of text on the facing page.
She includes verbatim text messages between herself, and her husband. Sometimes it is just heaps of boring items. For example, "Her: Plane on time." "Him: Just got off freeway." "Her: Okay." and so forth, and so on. It would be one thing if the conversation were leading somewhere, but it's not.
I admire her for trying to share her experience so that others might learn from it. I do know a bit about the topic, and I am not treating her experience, or his, lightly. The page where she learns of his suicide was heart-rending.
But due to the layout of the book, and the way she shares, it just didn't move me to give it more stars.
2 Stars = Blah. It didn't do anything for me.
January 19, 2018
A dialogue with Depression is a biography of Om Devi.
Thru this beautiful book she is sharing about her husbands struggle of depression. She struggles and desperately trying to motivate her husband to come out of the depression. The book has written in a different way like small quotes, letters etc.
At one stage she realizes, she will not be able to help her husband and started practicing yoga and meditation to help herself with the situation.
A well written biography with nice presentation.
Thru this beautiful book she is sharing about her husbands struggle of depression. She struggles and desperately trying to motivate her husband to come out of the depression. The book has written in a different way like small quotes, letters etc.
At one stage she realizes, she will not be able to help her husband and started practicing yoga and meditation to help herself with the situation.
A well written biography with nice presentation.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews