Mending the Mind: The Art and Science of Treating Clinical Depression

by Oliver Kamm

'A tour de force . . . an important, affecting and effective book' ALASTAIR CAMPBELL
'[A] gorgeous and urgent book' STEVEN PINKER
'Reminds us that, despite our hazy understanding of depression, and despite the true horror of the illness, some hope for recovery remains' THE TIMES
'Extremely intelligent, compassionate and well-written' EVENING STANDARD

Sadness is an inevitable part of life, but for most of us it coexists with happiness. Clinical depression, however, unhinges us from everything we know about the world and makes us strangers to those we love. It is the predominant mental-health problem worldwide, affecting more than 250 million people. Yet how much do we really know about the condition and how to treat it? Drawing on his own experience of a disorder that has afflicted humanity throughout history, Oliver Kamm charts the progress of science in understanding depression and explores insights from writers and artists through the ages. Hopeful, revelatory and deeply versed in current research, Mending the Mind sets out in plain language how clinical depression can be countered - and may eventually be overcome.

Genres: Psychology, Mental Health, Nonfiction

288 pages, Hardcover

Published January 23, 2020

Reviews

[Hannah Ruth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. Let's start with two good things. The thing this book did brilliantly was to explain, concretly, that depression is an illness. You can feel sad or low or heartbroken or depressed, but you don't have clinical depression. Clinical depression is an illness with symptoms like any other and it requires treatment. It is not like sadness or despair that will eventually ease. The other thing this book did well was explaining what depression feels like for an audience who might not know. I imagine this is very helpful for anyone who has no experience of it and wants to understand someone close to them who does.

However, this book is also very bad. It dismisses huge fields of psychological therapies, does nothing to cover even basic notions of trauma, and at one point literally states that psychotherapy is for people who "are not ill." Psychotherapy is absolutely for people who are ill with depression or any other mental illness. Insane thing to say.

Also worth noting the author is just a journalist and has zero mental health training: it shows. I assumed he at least had some kind of background but nope, nothing, simply that he has suffered from clinical depression. Well, then, better to write a book and make it explicit that it covers purely his own subjective experience rather than claim you can simply overcome depression. Lovely for him that as a wealthy straight white male he paid for medications and CBT therapy, but that escapes most people's reach.

The first 100 pages were complete waffle and, while it did improve a little, it felt as a whole incredibly repetitive and dismissive of other people's experiences. It would certainly not have helped me during bad episodes.
Ah well. Sometimes a book is just bad and that's okay.

[Maria Grigoryeva · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think the book turned out to be very different from my expectations. Hoped to find the list of practical tools or steps to guide the way out of clinical depression. In reality it was more like prolonged essay on the history of the disease and science/society perception of it. No insights, pretty basic information, well known to anyone who has read at least couple of articles on the subject.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

If, like me, you have never suffered from clinical depression, 'Mending the Mind' is an illuminating account of the author's experience of this mental illness. It throws light on the differences between clinical depression and extreme sadness or melancholy, referencing descriptions of these ailments in literature through the centuries, and current medical understanding of depression, its causes and 'cures'. The author gives an account of how, through a combination of drugs and the most appropriate form of psychotherapy, he gradually came out of depression and describes his 'new normal' which followed the 12 months he suffered from the illness.

[Alice White · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very repetitive and I was slightly alarmed that the author discounts therapies and medication for depression based on his own experience only. He’s made bold claims, and I worry it might be harmful rather than helpful.

The three star rating is attributed because this is the first book that summarises the reality of how depression feels. NHS.net and other websites do not summarise it accurately. He has also been personally brave in being so candid, and it was very well written with interesting references (if from the literary and philosophical world only).

[Jemelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmmmm. Firstly, this book is not what I expected. I guess I read the title wrong. However, it did have some great parts that I enjoyed and made me realise certain things about what I’m going through as a depressed individual.

[Jonny Brick · Rating 3 out of 5]

An argument not just for living with depression but for examining the humanities (poetry, prose, philosophy) as well as the science (SSRIs, chemical imbalance) in all things. Somewhat academic but he's a Times writer so that's to be expected.

[Kathrin Peters · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written and very honest. Will be of great value to anybody with mental health interests and issues. Devastating criticism of psychoanalytic approaches and great endorsement of CBT.

[Mario Hinksman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really, this book is what it says on the cover, albeit from a respected journalist rather than a professional in the field. It starts with a deeply personal account of his own very serious depressive episode before moving onto a workmanlike account of the causes and treatment of depression.

This is a worthwhile book but I am not sure it offered a huge amount that hasn't been said elsewhere (Johann Hari, another journalist wrote a book in the same region not so long ago). That said, he does recount his own experiences and that, at least, is unique, unsettling and moving and worth reading, particularly for those wanting to understand depression better.