Undoing depression : what therapy doesn't teach you and medication can't give you

Title:

Undoing depression : what therapy doesn't teach you and medication can't give you

Author:

O'Connor, Richard, Ph. D.

ISBN:

9780316043410

Edition:

2nd ed., completely rev. and updated.

Publication Information:

New York : Little, Brown and Co., c2010.

Available:*

Material Type	Library	Call Number	Suggested Age	Status
Book	Searching... Cabell County Public Library	616.8527 O	Adult	Searching... Unknown

Like heart disease, says psychotherapist Richard O'Connor, depression is fueled by complex and interrelated factors: genetic, biochemical, environmental. In this refreshingly sensible book, O'Connor focuses on an additional factor often overlooked: our own habits. Unwittingly we get good at depression. We learn how to hide it, how to work around it. We may even achieve great things, but with constant struggle rather than satisfaction. Relying on these methods to make it through each day, we deprive ourselves of true recovery, of deep joy and healthy emotion.

UNDOING DEPRESSION teaches us how to replace depressive patterns with a new and more effective set of skills. We already know how to "do" depression-and we can learn how to undo it. With a truly holistic approach that synthesizes the best of the many schools of thought about this painful disease, O'Connor offers new hope-and new life-for sufferers of depression.

Author Notes

Richard O'Connor, Phd, is a practicing psychotherapist with offices in Canaan, Connecticut, and New York City. He is also the author of Active Treatment of Depression, Undoing Perpetual Stress, and Happy at Last. For more information, visit www.undoingdepression.com

Reviews (3)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Psychotherapist and family counselor O'Connor attempts in his first book to bridge the chasm between the various approaches to treating depressionincluding medication, psychotherapy and self-help. Emphasizing the complexity of this state, which "is not a feeling, but the inability to feel," O'Connor suggests that a combination of approaches is necessary for full long-term recovery, explains the role of each approach and then focuses on the often overlooked role of self-help. Claiming that depressives have learned inappropriate skills for coping with their affliction and simply don't know how to replace them, he addresses five main areas in which new habits can be practiced: thinking, feeling, behavior, relationships and self-image. Calling upon both his clinical and personal experiences with depression, O'Connor warns that "Recovery from depression is hard work." Adding that working hard to change habits and fully recover is better than working hard to hide and/or manage depression, he lists 12 clear principles for recovery, including feeling feelings, communicating directly, cultivating intimacy and practicing detachment. O'Connor also dispels some myths (that depression is an emotion; that children can't experience depression), and imparts a sense of urgency for both depressives and mental health professionals to understand and treat all aspects of the growing "epidemic of depression." Readers will find this an uncommonly thorough and useful guide to overcoming a painful disease. (Nov.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Booklist Review

A practicing psychotherapist, O'Connor certainly respects the work of health care professionals in the area of depression. But as someone who has struggled with this affliction himself, O'Connor also believes that present-day therapy and medication treatments often fail, for those suffering from long-term depression "persist in self-destructive behavior because they don't know how to do anything else." In a sense, they don't know how to live without depression. O'Connor's book tries to get people to see the ingrained behaviors for what they are as a first step to altering their emotional habits. He includes a number of targeted exercises here. Next, O'Connor focuses outward, showing ways to incorporate this new knowledge into one's marriage, family, and work. Throughout, O'Connor's concern is developing a healthy psyche through awareness. This personally informed and deeply compassionate book should be a fine addition to self-help holdings. --Brian McCombie

Library Journal Review

O'Connor (Happy at Last), formerly executive director of the Northwest Center for Family Service and Mental Health in Lakewood, CT, and now in private practice, here revises and updates his successful 1997 title on depression. Continuing his sensible analysis of how everyday habitual behaviors can fuel depression and the most effective skills for combating it, he adds two new chapters, one on the importance of meditation and positive thinking and the other on stress-related diseases and afflictions that have an impact on depression. In addition, he provides current information on newly released medications for depression, cognitive concerns regarding depression, the benefits of exercise in overcoming depression, the link between post-traumatic stress disorder and depression, and new insights on the connection between depression and attention deficit disorder and emphasizes how his self-help exercises can assist psychotherapy in diminishing the need for psychoactive medications. Verdict Though readers suffering from depression should consult a professional for the most appropriate mode of treatment, O'Connor's extensive experience and no-nonsense approach result in a refreshing new addition to the vast literature on depression that will be of value to helping professionals and erudite readers.-Dale Farris, Groves, TX (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Preface to the Second Edition	p. VII
Author's Note	p. IX
Introduction	p. 3
Part 1 What We Know About Depression	p. 11
1 Understanding Depression	p. 13
2 The Experience of Depression	p. 27
3 Diagnosing Depression	p. 38
4 Explaining Depression	p. 60
Part 2 Learning New Skills	p. 75
5 The World of Depression	p. 77
6 Emotions	p. 84
7 Behavior	p. 102
8 Thinking	p. 124
9 Stress and Depression	p. 138
10 Relationships	p. 157
11 The Body	p. 171
12 The Self	p. 185
13 Treating Depression Medically	p. 197
14 Psychotherapy, Self-Help, and Other Means to Recovery	p. 220
Part 3 Putting the Skills to Work	p. 233
15 Work and a Sense of Purpose	p. 235
16 Living, Together and Apart	p. 253
17 Children and Adolescents	p. 274
18 Community	p. 295
Part 4 A New Synthesis	p. 305
19 The Rest of the Story	p. 307
20 A Program for Recovery	p. 312
21 Beyond Recovery	p. 324
Appendix: Organizations Promoting Recovery	p. 337
Recommended Reading	p. 339
Acknowledgments	p. 345
Notes	p. 347
Index	p. 367

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