Talking to Depression: Simple Ways To Connect When Someone In Your Life Is Depressed: Simple Ways To Connect When Someone In Your Life Is Depressed
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Author: Claudia J. Strauss
Publisher: Berkley
Paperback:
ISBN 10: 0451209869
ISBN 13: 978-0451209863
When someone suffers from depression, friends and family members naturally want to help—but too often their good intentions come out all wrong. This practical, compassionate guide helps readers understand exactly what their loved one is going through, and why certain approaches help and others have the potential to do damage.
Talking to Depression offers specific advice on what to do and what not to do—and what to say and what not to say—to avoid frustration and give the kind of caring, effective support that will make a difference.
From Publishers Weekly
The author of Talking to Alzheimer's shares a simple, direct and effective approach for family and friends of those living and dealing with clinical depression. Strauss delves into specific scenarios with depressed loved ones, clearly explaining why certain responses and phrasing of comments are helpful while others are ineffective or seem like mere "stock phrases" to the person who is depressed. Strauss also explains that simply being there for the depressed person helps more than giving specific advice. "It isn't her job to listen to you; it's your job to listen to her. That's the best way to help her." Clinical psychologist Martha Manning, whose book Undercurrents offered a personal dimension to the illness, hits the exact note when she writes in the foreword that "dealing with depression is a collaboration." Strauss uses this approach throughout the book, explaining the unique ways in which the depressed mind works and, consequently, how others can better connect with that way of thinking through appropriate conversation, body language and practical support. When viewed individually, these suggestions may seem like ways to tiptoe around the depressed person, but altogether they are considerate and sensitive methods of communicating in any type of relationship. Strauss's insight applies to the day-to-day battles alongside the depression sufferer, but she also stresses how much can be learned from these strong individuals: "In physical battles, we celebrate the bravery of the soldier who falls. The bravery of the psychological warrior is no less."
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Review
...a really important tool for knowing...how to connect when people in your life are struggling with depression. -- Jo Cohen Hamilton, Ph.D
...a war chest of tools to aid our understanding of something that defies understanding unless one has experienced it firsthand... -- Christine B. Smith, Ph.D., President of Survivors of Loved One's Suicides, Inc. - SOLOS
This magical book...makes numerous practical, valuable, and doable suggestions. -- Catherine M. Schultz, School Counselor, Reading High School
About the Author
Claudia J. Strauss is an award-winning communication consultant and educator. An adjunct professor of English at Albright College in Reading, Pennsylvania, she runs a business in strategic communication and coaches adults with ADD and other learning disabilities.
Martha Manning is a clinical psychologist and the author of The Common Thread: Mothers, Daughters, and the Power of Empathy; Undercurrents: A Life Beneath the Surface; Chasing Grace: Reflections of a Catholic Girl, Grown Up; and All Seasons Pass: Grieving Miscarriage. She has been featured on Dateline, Good Morning America, CBS This Morning, 60 Minutes II, and the Emmy Award–nominated HBO documentary Dead Blue: Surviving Depression.
