If you have been diagnosed with a mental problem or simply struggle with symptoms of depression from time to time there are sources available for help. Some people don’t know enough about depression to understand what they are going through or why they are experiencing certain feelings. If you are seeking help for depression you should look for every resource you have to get better beginning with professional treatment.
In addition to attending regular therapy sessions you might find it helpful to read some books on the subject of depression to give you some information you need to cope. The more you understand about the symptoms of depression, why they happen and how to recover, the better you will be able to handle your disorder. Spending time doing research can help your depression seem less overwhelming and more manageable.
These are some of the best books you can find to help you learn more about depression
1.Healing the Child Within by Charles Whitfield
One way to understand and heal from depression is to process some of the traumas you may have been through in childhood. If you had a dysfunctional upbringing then you may need to get in touch with you inner child and heal your pain from the past. This is a classic book that has helped people handle their depression through understanding their most difficult memories.
2. Control Your Depression by Peter Lewinsohn
This book is a practical guide to understanding depression and developing self-help techniques that will combat your symptoms. It provides insight into what depression is and how it manifests itself differently in certain people and situations. It also gives readers ways to reduce depression through relaxation, self-control techniques and ways to modify self-defeating thinking patterns.
3. Feeling Good by David D. Burns
Focusing mainly on cognitive behavioral therapy and how it can alleviate depression, this book helps readers understand how to change their moods. It describes how distorted thinking can fuel depression and what you can do to reduce negative thinking and ease suffering. Challenging negative beliefs and self-image issues can quickly help depressed people feel better.
4. The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression by Andrew Solomon
A longtime sufferer of depression himself, the author takes both a personal and intellectual approach to examine the disorder and understand its intricacies. He draws on his own experiences with depression as well as interviews with fellow sufferers, doctors and scientists, drug designers and philosophers. The book provides insight into various aspects depression and helps to define the illness from multiple perspectives.
5. Undoing Depression by Richard O’Connor
Another author who has gone through bouts of depression himself, O’Connor is also a licensed therapist who understands how to minimize symptoms through changing personal habits. He describes the type of patterns that develop for people with depression and how to replace those habits with new skills. The book encompasses many schools of thought and ultimately provides readers with useful approaches so that they can begin to“undo” their deeply ingrained patterns of depression.
6. The Mindful Way through Depression by J. Mark Williams
Most people are at least familiar with mindfulness as a method of handling stress but this book describes mindful methods as a way to help break the cycle of unhappiness. In this book four experts explain how people can spiral into further depression even as they try to change their own habits.
Using a combination of eastern philosophy and cognitive therapy the author shows you how to avoid habits like self-blame and rumination by being more mindful of your emotions. Mindfulness allows you to pay attention to your emotions and truly experience them instead of letting avoidance worsen your depression.
7. Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Life by Martin Seligman
The author of “Authentic Happiness” and one of the founders of positive psychology, Seligman has spent more than twenty years researching how optimism can change people’s quality of life. He believes learning a more optimistic attitude can be one of the key factors in overcoming depression. The book explains how to breaking the habit of giving up on things because of pessimistic beliefs and start the process of creating a more positive interior dialogue.
8. Listening to Depression by Lara Honos-Webb
This book explains depression in a way that most people wouldn’t think to consider. It suggests that depression is not just a disease but a warning signal that your life has gotten off track and you need to heal.
The author argues that we too often try to cut off our emotions and ignore problems instead of listening to our feelings and what they are telling us about our lives. She reframes depression as a kind of gift that helps us understand what we need to change or adjust to improve our situation.