Product Description
Dr. Daniel Amen-a pioneer in uncovering the connections between the brain and behavior-presents his revolutionary approach to treating anxiety and depressive disorders. Healing Anxiety and Depression reveals the major anxiety and depression centers of the brain, offers guidelines and diagnostic tools to determine the specific type of anxiety and depression, and provides a comprehensive program for treating each type. Based on new brain science-and featuring treatment plans that include medication, diet, supplements, exercise, and social and therapeutic support-this groundbreaking book will help readers conquer these potentially devastating disorders and change the way they think about anxiety and depression. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (45)

This is a fascinating book!
Do you wanna know why you feel depressed?

Do you wanna know where all the crazy ideas are being formed in your brain?

Do you know what part of your brain is responsible for certain feelings?

Do you know how to self diagnose your own depression?

This book is all scientific, factual yet still easy to understand. I self-diagnosed myself, I have been on Zoloft and I kind of think my doctor did not prescribe me the right medication according to this book but overall, its all about understanding the game our brains playing against us when it comes to depression and anxiety. Once you understand whats going on in YOUR brain. it is easier to deal with that. GREAT book! a Must read to understand depression/anxiety in depth and change your thinking patterns according to your own depression style.

wrote a song about it, wanna hear it?Here it go
This book constantly points to seeking professional help and/or evaluation ... brain scans and whatnot.I thought the book was going to be something along the lines of self-help.NOT.Unless you want the book for research and/or academic purposes, save the dough for a `head shrinker fund'.

Wrongly Marketed Product
The information it provides is great for Psychiatrists and professionals, but not for regular people. In no way does it teach to hear anxiety or depression, it only talks about it and how it relates to MRI and other imaging results. This product isn't for the "people" in any way.

Great healthy approach to healing the brain
I was very pleased with the information by Daniel Amen. I have used some of the information for myself and clients.
It is a much more positive approach to healing the brain and understanding more logical explanations for anxiety
and depression. It's a must read for those in this field.

Great Book
Highly recommended for anyone dealing with anxiety and/or depression.Really helped us view these as physical illnesses that need medical help and help directed to the individual and his or her special needs. ... Read more

Product Description

Take the natural path to mental wellness

More than 25 million Americans are treated with antidepressants each year, at a cost in excess of $50 billion. But the side effects of popular prescription drugs may seem nearly as depressing as the symptoms they’re meant to treat. Veteran yoga instructor Amy Weintraub offers a better solution—one that taps the scientifically proven link between yoga and emotional well-being as well as the beauty of ancient approaches to inner peace.

Addressing a range of diagnoses, including dysthymia, anxiety-based depression, and bipolar disorder, Yoga for Depression reveals why specific postures, breathing practices, and meditation techniques can ease suffering and release life’s traumas and losses. Weintraub also reflects on her own experience with severe depression, from which she recovered through immersing herself in a daily yoga routine.
Yoga for Depression is the first yoga book devoted exclusively to the treatment of these debilitating conditions. Amy Weintraub will help readers see their suffering and themselves in a vibrant new light.

Customer Reviews (18)

Yoga for Depression
This book is a fantastic contribution to the wholistic healing movement.It is well researched and well-written.Amy Weintraub explains the condition of depression from an Eastern standpoint very well.Then she gives solutions to help relieve depression and explains them with ease.Her solution is obviously yoga.A little bit of daily discipline is all that is required.I am looking forward to to a better and healthier way of thinking.Thank you Amy.

Great Book!!Very peaceful and helpful
I didn't think that the things this book teaches you could actually work.Well they do!With the help of this book I can catch myself and prevent a panic attack from happening and its so easy.I highly recommend this book.The author makes you feel so comfortable with yourself and helps you really connect on a universal level to find peace within yourself!

This book is a delight
This book is a delight to read...and I suspect it will be for you even if you have never considered yoga as a way to improve your mood. I am the author of The Food-Mood Solution, but I recognize that there are many different drug-free paths to improving our brain chemistry and achieving more balance in life. The key is finding the path that works best for you. Although the book's emphasis is obviously on using yoga to reverse depression, almost every page contains thoughtful pearls of wisdom about navigating life's experiences. Amy has done a wonderful job of translating her experiences in life to benefit others.

Yoga for Depression
I love this book.It has alot of excellent information to help people who are suffering from depression.I am a yoga teacher and find that the poses they suggest are wonderful to relieve many symptoms of sadness.I purchased 2 additional book for my girlfriends.

Yoga for Depression review
A well-researched, well-written book which has inspired me to commit to daily yoga. Amy Weintraub illustrates convincingly the benefits yoga can bring to a depressed person, without condemning conventional medicine. Instead she recommends a mixture of yoga, medication and talk therapy to suit each individual. This book is inspiring and gives me hope. ... Read more

Product Description
What happens to love when a partner is depressed?

Customer Reviews (36)

Unlike any other book on depression
Reading this book was like reading about my marriage.It helped me completely understand the feelings I was having as a product of my spouse's depressed behavior.Highly recommend this to anyone living with a depressed spouse.

Wonderful and worth while
Im about half way through this book. I find it easy to read and very informative. It provides a wonderful understanding of life with a someone suffering from depression and a very enlightening view on how to survive.

Depression Fallout
Depression Fallout: The Impact of Depression on Couples and What You Can Do to Preserve the Bond

This book was an amazing discovery for me.It not only gives me the affirmation that I am not being selfish considering my well being, but the tools for making things better in my life.Living with a spouse that has suffered from depression for over two years, has not been an easy road to travel.The book is highly recommended by many therapists and readers alike.

Waste of Money
I bought this because after a lot of research I was pretty sure my bf was depressed.I am a very thorough, analytical person so I need logic, facts and a framework.This book is simply a collection of stories found on the author's website.There is no analysis or basis for any of the conclusion or recommendations provided.I guess this book is good if you just want a collection of stories from people who have been in relationships with depressed people (which btw you can also get for free from visiting various websites); but if you want a well thought out, analytical and well researched guide by a qualified counselor this isn't it.I bought about 5 different books on depression / anxiety all of which were great, well researched books by qualified professionals.This was the only lemon-- I spent about 10 minutes thumbing through it and am going to chuck it.

Also be careful of the ripoff shipping charge of $12.19 vs book cost of $11.86!!!when you place your order it just indicates that the book will be separately shipped but not the cost.then you get whacked with said shipping cost!!i thought the book must have been huge or heavy but nope.just your typical paperback!

Someone's going to be saved
I bought this book hoping to understand what depression is. I was hoping that by understanding the disease I would be able to help my friend, make him happy, and save him. This book by Anne Sheffield did make me understand what the disease is. And it saved me instead.

I would recommend this book to anyone who has a loved one who battles depression. Find yourself in this book. ... Read more

Product Description
Christian based historical fiction for ages 12 and up.

It's the 1920's and the prosperity seems as if it will never end. Then, suddenly, the stock market crashes and the banks close, followed by strong winds called the Dust Bowl. Soon the Matthew's family farm will no longer produce, and the bankers foreclose on it, leaving them nowhere to live except their old car. Paul, who is fourteen, has heard that the bankers actually cheated them out of their farm, and he wants revenge. Mary, thirteen, wonders why they are going through such severe trials, since they are Christians who have tried to serve God. Slowly they make their way westward, where their father hopes to find work. On the way they must stay in smelly transient camps, and encounter thieves, deceivers, and even religious hypocrites. They have never had such a severe test of faith - and many times they wonder what God is doing in their lives. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Makes me wonder how this once great nation sunk so low so fast.
What a truly great book about God's word becoming alive and active and sharper than a two edge sword in the lives of a Christian family who lost everything but their car, their cohesiveness, and their faith during the Depression.The great old Bible stories are retold in their lives as they experience similar suffering, persecution, misunderstanding, and troubles as the characters in the stories.The parents interpret to their children what the Bible has to say about obedience, forgiveness, patience, perseverance, and love as they encounter hardship and treachery.This is not a simplistic "Christian good/non-believer bad" story since the family encounters among professed believers their share of self-righteous hypocrites, a self-centered prosperity minister, as well as just those of little faith.Lack-luster religion only stands as contrast to the true faith of the people who know what it really means to have a relationship with Christ and not be afraid to live their beliefs. I read this book through tears, not at the family's hardship, since it was endured and learned from through faith, trust, and the joy of salvation, but from the sheer beauty of God's Word made manifest in their lives.One could see how God used the Great Depression to grow the strength of the Greatest Generation who would soon fight victoriously against the forces of evil--spiritual as well as physical--in WWII.I checked to see what other books were available from this author, but was heartbroken to find none.I consider it a great privilege and blessing to have had the opportunity to read this book.

A good read
I truely enjoyed this book.The action kept me turning the pages until I reached the end.Although a bit heavy on the religious aspects I found the book a good discription of the times.

good historical fiction
This is an exciting story that brings to life a specific period of American history while conveying spiritual truths in an entertaining manner. ... Read more

Product Description
A perennial backlist performer. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (26)

A bit left bias is an understatement
What do you expect from an academiac? A left-wing off-the-chart socialist.

The National Endowment for the Humanities gave him a ton of money to spew their socialist agenda. So much for higher education. Par for the course.

Could hardly be worse
Just awful.So bad that I felt compelled to write this (my first ever Amazon review).

This book reads like a transcript of a sophomoric lecture about the Great Depression.One star because there is no option for zero.

Interesting and scary at the same time
I am still only about half way through the book. It definitely is not a quick read. But I also can't put it down and consider not finishing it. I still need to find out - as Paul Harvey would say - the 'rest of the story'.

What is so striking and frightening to me is that, although the book was written many years ago, - you could easily believe the author was referring to our current economic mess and this deep recession that has gripped not only our country, but the world.The more I read in the book, the more it feels as if we are revisiting the past.

So many of the things that happened back then are still continuing today. Greed, dishonesty, rampant speculation, market manipulation - that hasn't gone away. We certainly have not learned from our mistakes, and the incredible gap between the haves and the have nots is just as bad as it was in those days.

I am very glad I purchased the book - scary as it is. The author's discussion of the politics of the time seems eerily similar to the partisan politics we see today.

Ronald Reagan Pop Up Book
Generally, this was a very fair, well written history of the Great Depression.While the author treats both Hoover and FDR in an even, balanced manner, the same cannot be said of Ronald Reagan.Perhaps, as some other reviewers have noted, McElvaine was attempting to put the era into some historical context, but too often it comes across that the author just can't stand the 40th President.Too bad, since throughout the book Reagan pops up without warning and usually without warrant.This sort of intrusion does little to recommend the author.

So-so
Although the individual interviews and stories were interesting, the choice of stories and the order of the presentation is a bit perplexing.The project seems to lack cohesion. ... Read more

Product Description
Therese Borchard may be one of the frankest, funniest people on the planet.That, combined with her keen writing abilities has made her Beliefnet blog, Beyond Blue, one of the most trafficked blogs on the site.

BEYOND BLUE, the book, is part memoir/part self-help.It describes Borchard's experience of living with manic depression as well as providing cutting-edge research and information on dealing with mood disorders.By exposing her vulnerability, she endears herself immediately to the reader and then reduces even the most depressed to laughter as she provides a companion on the journey to recovery and the knowledge that the reader is not alone.

Comprised of four sections and twenty-one chapters, BEYOND BLUE covers a wide range of topics from codependency to addiction, poor body image to postpartum depression, from alternative medicine to psychopharmacology, managing anxiety to applying lessons from therapy.Because of her laser wit and Erma Bombeck sense of humor, every chapter is entertaining as well as serious.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (43)

A voice that rings true
This book made me feel hopeful not only for myself, but also for other mentally ill family members.I refer to it often.

Helpful suggestions for living with depression
I enjoyed Beyond Blue very much.In a witty way she addresses issues that many of us deal with daily and are ashamed to admit.It is nice to know that you aren't alone in the world that doesn't always make sense or fit into the proper niche.

The suggestions as to how to keep life between the ditches though not new, are excellent reminders that staying sane and managing your illness is a full time job.

Love this book
I've just started reading "Beyond Blue" and checking out the author's blog and I can't believe there is another person out there like me!I've never fit in ANYWHERE and yet here she is writing down my life and my feelings in her words...I can't believe it!

I'm really glad this author has the balls to do what she's doing.She's already helped me through her "confessions" - just knowing there is someone else who gets it (whatever that means), isn't perfect but is more "normal" than what most "normal" people seem to be and who can put these things into words makes me feel less alone on this planet.

I gave up on self help books, 99% of therapists and 12 step meetings a long time ago.This book helps me in a whole different way.I'm relatively stable and very very sober but there's always that niggling feeling inside which has the danger of turning into something more sinister.But I see that I'm not alone and that makes a huge difference.

Love this book!

Honest, Raw, Real
What if you were afflicted by major depression, AND obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), AND manic-depressive tendencies, AND anxiety issues - what would you be?

Well, Therese Borchard, I guess!

I just finished reading her story in her book Beyond Blue (Surviving Depression and Anxiety and Making the Most of Bad Genes), which grew out of her Beyond Blue blog.

Why would I care about such a book? Well, because of my own history with depression. There's a unique window of understanding that fellow sufferers have, and I found it fascinating to trace Therese's thoughts and experiences in this volume.

And, I also felt immensely grateful that I did not experience the cocktail of disorders she seeks to survive daily!

Now I'll come right out and say that unless you are suffering with one of these disorders, or seeking to help someone else who is, you might find it to be heavy weather navigating Beyond Blue. However, for those with skewed brain chemistry, this is a valuable resource, for one overriding reason: You're not alone.

The greatest value of Terese's writing is that she very transparently, and often humorously, describes the day-to-day travails of living with a mind that refuses to stay within "normal" bounds. For those suffering with these afflictions, it can be tremendously lonely to experience the guilt, the confusion, the hopelessness that cannot be controlled by force of will. When she describes considering suicide 20 times a day, you cringe - but that's a silent and hideous reality for many folks, and Therese forthrightly lays it all out there.

Her writing style reflects her thought patterns, so there is an interesting "jumpiness" and spontaneity in the the book. This is not a highly structured medical treatise, but almost a train-of-thought account of living with multiple conditions. That humanity, that surprising candor, is what makes this Terese's story in a unique way. As a wife and mother, she is very open about how mental illness impacts her relationships. She's a very lovable nutcase (yes, she refers to herself in such language!) and I'd love to stroll around Annapolis and talk with her further!

I found the book moving, not because of its literary style, but because of its raw humanity. It's not easy to admit to struggles with mental illness. People don't understand why you walk under a dark cloud, why you feel like the most worthless person to walk the planet, why drugs (and other interventions) may be an absolute necessity to achieve day-to-day sanity. Therese is providing a valuable service to many just by being herself and hanging it all out there, dirty laundry and all.

And so I will take this opportunity to thank her, not just for sending the book, but for being Therese. There's a whole bunch of folks out there who need help getting beyond blue.

Takes you there. Shows you hope.
Borchard takes you all the way into the Hell that is depression and bipolar disorder and highlights both faith and the importance of finding the right therapist and combination of medications for each individual as effective lifelines in the rough process so many people endure as they work to feel better. Loaded with smart research and inspiration. And humor. Truly amazing. ... Read more

Product Description
Learn to manage depression in The Freedom from Depression Workbook. Les Carter, Ph.D., and Frank Minirth, M.D., introduce a 12-part interactive program that identifies moods and patterns which affect our feelings. With the help of this book, peel back the layers of what causes depression and learn to develop keys to lasting change. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

freedom from depression
this book ,is going to be good for me. my pastor is giving us classes on depression,and i am sotaking the classes.

Good resource
I haven't gotten all the way through the book, but so far it's a good resource. It addresses the different ways you can be depressed and helps you identify where you stand with it. Still, I don't think any book by itself is gonna solve your problems. You need a doctor you trust, too.

Book Fails to Identify Itself as A Christian Therapy Book
I was 69 pages into this book before it began to reveal itself as a Christian-Based therapy book and not a book based on reason and rational thought! It should clearly (honestly) state in the title or first chapter that it's a Christian book.Why keep it on the down-low if its a legitimate form of therapy? (Unless you are totally comfortable about hoodwinking people into your own personal agenda!)I feel like I was defrauded out of $16.00.

Buy this book!
I am a 20 yr old college student who has struggled with episodes of major depression. It became very debilitating and a couple months ago I asked my parents to take me to the emergency room because of the extreme amount of emotional pain I was in. There were many days where I had to fight just to get through the day. When I was in the worst stages, I had no understanding of what was causing me to feel so miserable and stop functioning well. I had the attitude that my life was great, my depression was all chemical, a result of my genetics. While I do believe my family history is a factor, I am realizing that my life isn't perfect and there are things that I want to change about myself and how I react to certain situations and people. With the help of therapy & effexor I started to improve but still struggled. I believe this book has helped me to get over that hump, to allow me to feel myself again. I am only on the second chapter, but of all the self-help books I read this has been the best so far. I knew before that I had to make changes to get out of and stay out of my depression, but I didnt know what to change or how to do it.This book has helped me to actively look at my life, identify the problems, and it gives solutions.If you or someone you care about has depression they will likely find this book helpful.

A Life Saver
There aren't words enough to describe how thankful I am for having read this book.The power to once again control your own life can be found in these pages.I can't see how it would not be beneficial to anyone who reads it. ... Read more

Product Description
Twenty to thirty million Americans suffer from some form of diagnosable depression, and their ranks are growing. Psychologist Michael D. Yapko explains that in order to find relief, more than the current episode of depression must be examined. In Breaking the Patterns of Depression, he presents skills that enable readers to understand and ultimately avert depression's recurring cycles. Focusing on future prevention as well as initial treatment, the book includes over one hundred structured activities to help sufferers learn the skills necessary to become and remain depression-free.

Breaking the Patterns of Depression begins by translating the clinical literature on psychotherapy and antidepressant medication into language that can be used to enhance an understanding of depression, and to personalize individual cures. Yapko uses a conversational, anecdotal tone that encourages readers to take an active approach to helping themselves. Special sections entitled "Learn by Doing" and "Shifting Perspectives" help develop the skills necessary to manage difficult experiences. Readers learn how to solve problems effectively, anticipate the likely consequences of their actions, think and act in a direct, goal-oriented fashion, balance different areas of their lives, and use self-knowledge to stay out of harmful situations.

More realistic and helpful than other depression-management books on the market, Breaking the Patterns of Depression defines what causes depression and, best of all, clarifies what can be done about it. With this knowledge in hand, readers can control their depression, rather than having depression control them. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (30)

Hope springs eternal...
While battling depression a person can feel that there are no good choices. A key thing that helps a person in those times is hope, even a glimmer of hope can be more powerful than medication. With this book the reader is taken through the major issues with depression and given some hope for the future.

Depression is a serious disorder and should be treated by both psychologists, psychiatrists and general practitioners. Don't go at this alone. Get help, and read books like this one. It can make a significant difference in the treatment of this very treatable disorder.

good book about depression
Very good book. Explaining to simple people in a simple way what depression is and helps you understand what's going on with you. Helped me more than my therapist actuall!

This is NOT for people with clinical depression
There are people who get overwhelmed with life issues and become depressed with what they must face. Once the situation is resolved, they recover and go back to their lives. I would call this a mood disorder and their pattern is to retreat when problems overwhelm them. Learning how to handle life's ups and downs is behavior modification and fits this book. However, this book is way behind current mental health findings. Most mental illness, like clinical depression, is inherited. It is a genetic predisposition. It is brain chemistry and environment. Your life experiences can determine whether or to what extent you present with a mental illness genetically linked to your family. Childhood abuse (whether sexual, verbal, or emotional), a life tragedy like early death of a parent, sibling or involvement in a horrific event can trigger mental disorders that are biologic in nature. Clinical depression is biochemical and responds best to a combination of medication and therapy. Most people with clinical depression cannot tell you why they are in a depressive episode. There can be known triggers and there are times there seems to be no apparent reason. This book could harm a person with clinical depresssion, as if their illness is their fault and they should be able to stop it at will. Don't waste your money or worry yourself with this book/author who does not understand the different types of depression. There are excellent medical websites (ex.WebMD) which can offer the most current consumer-friendly data regarding your symptoms. Do not be embarrassed to discuss your feelings with a trusted doctor. An illness is an illness whether it is mental or physical.

Excellent self-help book
My wife gives copies of this book to many of her psychotherapy clients. She regards it as an excellent aid to overcoming depression.

Excellent service
I needed to reference this book for a counseling situation and it came right on time and in great condition. Thanks ... Read more

Product Description
In this timely new P.I. Guide, Murphy reveals the stark truth: free market failure didn't cause the Great Depression and the New Deal didn't cure it. Shattering myths and politically correct lies, he tells why World War II didn t help the economy or get us out of the Great Depression; why it took FDR to make the Depression Great; and why Herbert Hoover was more like Obama and less like Bush than the liberal media would have you believe. Free-market believers and capitalists everywhere should have this on their bookshelf and in their briefcases. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (37)

Murphy vs Krugman
Recently Murphy has offered to debate Paul Krugman, the world's leading Keynesian. So far Mr Krugman has not accepted the challenge and if he is wise he never will. One of the enduring myths Krugman has propagated is that we just didn't spend quite enough and that's why the Great Depression lasted so long. He goes further and blames those darn Republicans for not allowing FDR to continue his free spending ways. Well, let's look at the Congressional makeup of those years to see if this indeed could have been the case.

All Democrat majorities... Senate and House

1933-35 59-36 313-117
1935-37 69-25 322-103
1937-39 75-17 333-89
1939-41 69-23 262-169

As you can see at no time did Republicans have any sort of control. In fact during this entire period the Senate had filibuster proof Democrat majorities (remember there were only 96 Senators then) and that even after an historic 80 seat pickup in the House they still were still in a puny minority that was less than it is even now.
So one has to conclude Mr Krugman is ignorant or a liar. You can draw your own conclusions. The fact that he continues to harp about that Hoover was a laissez-faire capitalist despite indisputable evidence to the contrary would make the choice easier in my mind. Krugman apparently is one in a growing of Nobel Prize winners that are richly undeserving of that award that the Nobel commitee seems more and more bent on handing out prizes to uber-left progressives regardless of what they have or have not accomplished.

700 Billion Dollar Bank Bailout Says YOU are an IDIOT
Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R24RNTDM5HHODX What do I have to say about this book? NO!! That is what I say - NO, NO, NO.

Not A Good Primer, But Fairly Interesting
Unlike many reviewers, I didn't really have much in the way of preconceptions when picking up this book; I am not from the US, and I have only the most basic knowledge about the Depression and the New Deal.

I think this book should not be the first one you pick up on the subject. Clearly (as per the series, 'Politically Incorrect Guides') this book seeks to challenge commonly held views. The 'do-nothing Hoover' and 'FDR the saviour' canards are challeged. However, I wish I had read a bit more 'orthodox' history on the Depression before reading this, so at least I would be familiar with what the author is arguing against. That being said, I learned some valuable economic history from it.

And look, I don't know enough about economics to have an informed viewpoint - that's why I read this book - but I was a little disturbed by the authors' unblinking faith in small-government-lassez-faire-free-market capitalism. It's almost evangelical. I couldn't tell you if he's right or not. I do feel the subject would have benefited from a more balanced treatment.

If You Want to Learn Lessons for Today then Read this
This book answers one question that I always wanted to know. Why did the Depression last so long and why was unemployment 20%+ so high. Hoover along with large industrialists agreed to keep wages high because high wages (under the consumption theory) would allow workers to consume more and thus support the economy.

Sure high tariffs and high taxes were devastating to the economy of the 1930s or any time thereafter, but the faulty theory of consumption exposed in this book is beyond common sense.

As wages were held high (by unions or "cooperation" with Hoover and Roosevelt) while prices of goods and production inputs fell, then profits collapsed and investment declined. Based on supply and demand unemployment rose.If the price of something (real wages of labor) rises then people will demand less of it. If you had a job during the depression, you were in good straits since your wages stayed high while what you bought dropped in price. The cost was borne by the millions of unemployed. Why does a politician support minimum wage laws? Why not advocate wages at $million dollars a day? We will all be rich!

Think of it: consumption doesn't drive the economy; production does. One only produces something to ultimately consume it or trade it for something else to consume. To increase production then you need to increase capital investment and to do that you need people to postpone consumption enough to save.

Hoover, Roosevelt, Bush and Obama AND Bernake have it ass backwards. At least after reading this book, you will know better.

God Help us.

America Acts or Euro Axis
Reality fails to intrude upon Murphy's ideology.Thus, in arguing against government intervention to bail out troubled firms, he writes: "From an economist's point of view it is far better to let those businesses liquidate, freeing capital to find better, more profitable uses, which will in turn provide jobs that actually produce real value..."(p. 174)But what if that "freed" capital moves abroad, abandons workers here, and hires less expensive laborers elsewhere?

And during WWII Murphy assures us, "...the government did not need to impose direct rationing...Instead, the government could have simply raised taxes..."(159)During a major war, people want to believe that everyone must sacrifice.If every young man can be a possible casualty, then everyone on the home front should be willing to cut down on sugar, butter, etc.To raise taxes so that the rich could still afford sugar while the poor could not, would cause enormous resentment in the home of a poor mother whose son had been killed.Indeed, not only was rationing imposed, but in Britain and the US metal pots and pans were collected to help the war effort (though most proved useless as material, but a stimulant to morale).

Additionally, about war Murphy quotes Ludwig von Mises - "There is no record of a socialist nation which defeated a capitalist nation.In spite of their much glorified war socialism, the Germans were defeated in both World Wars."(159)But did Germany lose because of its socialism?In WWI, Germany and a few other nations held off the rest of the world - for years.And again in WWII, Germany was a nation with far, far fewer people than the combined British, French, Dutch, Belgian, Soviet, and American (remember the Philippines, etc.) empires.Nevertheless, Germany fought the enemies' allied strength for several years before succumbing.Furthermore, socialist Germany lost most precipitously not to the capitalist West, but to the Communist east.Germany's diplomacy may have failed that nation, but Germany's socialism may have been one reason it could fight against such overwhelming odds for so long.

How does Murphy explain the stock market crash of 1929?"The most persuasive explanation...blames the Federal Reserve...particularly in 1927, the Fed pumped artificial credit into the loan market..."I was not persuaded by the material Murphy presents that the American Federal Reserve, seeking to aid Britain with its drain of gold reserves, inflated the US dollar in 1927 and thus caused the crash and the depression.

Murphy does present thought-provoking expositions of how deflation can be good for the economy, how the gold standard provided stability, how Franklin Roosevelt's agricultural policy destroyed good food while Americans cried for meals, how FDR's National Industrial Recovery Act would imprison a small businessman who dared to lower his prices so as to compete with major corporations, and how FDR used the Works Progress Administration to hire men for projects in areas where Democrats needed votes.In all these areas, Murphy's book is a healthy antidote to the more common FDR hagiography taught in universities.Unfortunately, Murphy's discussion of social security is as muddled as many of today's election TV ads on the subject.

Murphy shocked me with his statistics on bank failures: thousand of banks failed in the US in the 1930s while in Canada "'10 banks with 3.000-odd branches...did not even experience any runs.'"(126, Murhpy is quoting M. Friedman and A. Schwartz)Murphy also displays an intriguing table of the unemployment rates in the US and Canada during the depression, but Murphy fails to explore the causes of the differential rates.(103)

The plowing under of pigs and corn, as required by FDR's Agricultural Adjustment Act is far preferable to Stalin's plowing under of Kulaks in the Ukraine, but there were negative consequences to FDR's program.First, one is amazed at the absurdity and horror of destroying good food while some Americans starved.But cotton too was destroyed as part of the program.People clothed in rags could cheer Roosevelt while his Administration destroyed cotton to keep prices high.And when the government gave to the planters the money to destroy and not plant cotton, the planters then had no reason to employ share croppers.The planter's land areas were the ones not to be planted; the croppers' field abandoned.So many croppers, Black and white, were forced off the lands they had worked for decades.

But the South was not the only area undergoing transformation of the land.A severe drought in much of the country forced others off the land.Okies and Arkies and others migrated from states of baked earth to heavenly dreams in California, and the grapes of wrath and hope.Murphy condemns the political antics of the Works Progress Administration, and he could have added the PWA and the many other FDR agencies.Yet, such agencies employed young men to help the land, planting trees, building dams, and in parks building pavilions, roads.As a youth in the late 1940s and 50's I could appreciate the shady pavilions in the city park with its WPA sign to remind us of who had built the structures.The next generation could enjoy the fruits of the labor that had been employed by FDR's agencies.The government sector hired the unemployed for constructive purposes on government lands.What is wrong with that?Not only did it provide jobs for youths in the desperation of the Depression, the result was better roads, parks, dams, irrigation, trees, for future generations.

Murphy condemns President Hoover for asking businessmen not to lower wages during the Depression.(33)Murphy rightly sees a continuity between the programs of Hoover and FDR.He blames both for extending the Depression and making it the Great Depression.Implicitly, Murphy seems to have wanted lower wages, more firings, and then the depression might have ended faster.Government intervention made things worse, is his argument.And though he writes little about it here, Murphy is probably no fan of the growth of high-wage demanding unions, which grew enormously in the 1930s under Roosevelt.

Murphy does not mention the 1931 collapse of the KreditAnstalt Bank in Austria, which some say tumbled more glittering dominos into greater depression.The fall of this bank led Austria, Germany, and Britain to abandon the gold standard.Hoover believed the economic crisis was world-wide, and the causes came from abroad.Other nations had to deal with the crisis too.How did they do?

Some in the US thought the Soviet approach had been proven correct by the crash of 1929. Some Americans of Finnish descent returned to the Soviet Union - to disastrous results.Eventually Stalin had all the men killed, and the women lived on, in the usual Soviet poverty.Some American Blacks visited and a few stayed.Paul Robeson's son remained there for several years.But overall, the Soviets dealt with the Depression as it had dealt with the economy of the 1920s, with ever growing terror.In 1934 the Soviets adopted a new constitution, but it was a sham face on the terror state.Millions were killed through Stalin's policies; millions more were imprisoned in gulags that provided slave labor in the worker's paradise.

Coming to power about the same time as FDR, in early 1933 Hitler was named Chancellor of Germany.A National Socialist, he surely believed in government intervention.Jews were less than 1% of the population, and though they suffered from discrimination from the first months of his regime, the rest of the population began to think the economy was getting better.Hitler terminated the WWI reparations that had done so much to wreck the German economy (not until autumn 2010 did Chancellor Angel Merkel finally finish paying off the WWI German war reparations!)In the early years of Hitler's regime, many believed that his government was solving problems of depression.It was government intervention, it was anti-Jewish, it was a dictatorship, but in the 1930s, few were killed in concentration camps - certainly nowhere near the numbers killed and incarcerated in Stalin's USSR.The people of the Saar freely voted to rejoin Hitler's Reich.Sudetenlanders sought to rejoin - and thus the Munich crisis.Danzig wanted to rejoin.Certainly, one reason so many wanted to rejoin the Reich, was because they, nearby, believed Hitler's Reich was an economic success.What were the unemployment statistics for Germany?

America, the Communist Soviet Union, and Nazi Germany - these were the three major alternatives to solving the depression in the 1930s.The Soviet terror and murder state had greater appeal the further away one was from it.But Nazi fascism did seem to solve the depression in a land where unemployment in 1932 had been higher than in the US.The 1936 Olympic Games spotlighted Germany as a prosperous, growing, confident nation, one that might be a model for the future of Europe or even the world.

If FDR had refused to use the government to help form unions, build roads, dams, parks, if Roosevelt had told the unemployed that their wages might be lowered or they might be fired (all for the best of the economy), if FDR had abided by laissez-faire policies, would things have gone as well as Murphy implies?Or might Americans have turned to a different model? ... Read more

Product Description
This workbook is designed to help you as you work together with a qualified mental health professional to overcome your depression. The program described will help you develop a set of coping strategies and skills so that you can proactively deal with depression and prevent it from compromising your quality of life.

Based on the idea that depression is a "beast" to be tamed, the treatment utilizes an acronym to help you understand the goals of treatment. You will work with your therapist to understand the biology of depression, as well as how your emotions, your activity level, the situations you find yourself in, and the thoughts you have all contribute to your depression (the BEAST). This treatment is scientifically proven and can be used in conjunction with medication.
Filled with worksheets and forms for completing in-session exercises, as well as at-home assignments, this workbook provides all the tools you need to successfully overcome your depression and prevent future relapse.

TreatmentsThatWorkTM represents the gold standard of behavioral healthcare interventions!



·All programs have been rigorously tested in clinical trials and are backed by years of research


·A prestigious scientific advisory board, led by series Editor-In-Chief David H. Barlow, reviews and evaluates each intervention to ensure that it meets the highest standard of evidence so you can be confident that you are using the most effective treatment available to date


·Our books are reliable and effective and make it easy for you to provide your clients with the best care available


·Our corresponding workbooks contain psychoeducational information, forms and worksheets, and homework assignments to keep clients engaged and motivated


·A companion website (www.oup.com/us/ttw) offers downloadable clinical tools and helpful resources


·Continuing Education (CE) Credits are now available on select titles in collaboration with PsychoEducational Resources, Inc. (PER) ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Practical Help for Those With Depression
I am a psychologist in private practice and routinely suggest this book to my clients as an adjunct to their counseling with me. I have personally worked with Mark Gilson and Jane Yates and know them to be gifted clinicians who can easily relate to clients. This clearly comes through in this book as the authors help the reader to better understand the multiple components of depression and how to go about becoming less depressed without years of psychotherapy. The writings are based on sound scientific principles but written in a format that is easily understood by all. The suggestions for approaching depression are practical and helpful and easy to use worksheets are presented throughout the book. The book is must reading for those suffering from depression and for those who are involved with a person who is depressed so they can better understand the disorder and what may be helpful to the person they care about.

Steven Walfish, Ph.D.
Atlanta

Review by Pauline Rose Clance, Ph.D., ABPP Atlanta, GA drpaulinerose"at"[...]
In this treatment Guide for Therapists and workbook for clients (patient), these authors present a scholarly, clear and comprehensive explanation of the cognitive approach to treating depression and a variety of mood disorders. Gilson et al.,
2009 provide a systematic procedure to assess "target behaviors "or problems that are specific to the individual client. The authors clearly show by using case examples
that clients with the symptoms of depression may have many different
factors that are contributing to their depression that need to be targeted for
work by the therapist and client. The treatment is individualized for each
client, yet the approach is systematic and looks at key components of
depression. They devised a neat memory and explanation devise called
"Taming the BEAST' to outline the assessment and treatment process.
Each letter of BEAST covers an aspect of mood disorders that needs to be
addressed with each client. BEAST stands for the effects of body, emotion,
action, situation and thoughts on the experience of depression. Using
the "taming the beast" metaphor, the authors present specific theory,
research, exercises and techniques to these five aspects of depression.
Gilson et al. make it very clear that the cognitive therapy approach is much
more complex than just changing negative thinking.
I found their chapter on socialization of the patient to be
excellent. They present interesting procedures for the therapist to educate
the client on what to expect from the therapy sessions, on what cognitive
therapy is and how to deal with client questions. They have developed a
client consent form which encourages an active buy-in of the client for the
treatment. I think their socialization ideas are important and innovative and
can be useful to a therapist regardless of his/her orientation. I found Chapter
7 on life situations and vulnerability to be an excellent aid to help the therapist
and client discover patterns of difficulty. Also, chapter 8 showed clearly with
great examples how thoughts could be changed to deal with depression.
There is a concise descriptive summary of significant reviews of
empirical research studies that showed that cognitive therapy is very effective
in successfully treating depression. The authors do acknowledge that
some other approaches may work, yet make a strong case for cognitive
therapy. Some of the most interesting discussion, based on recent research, is
reviewing brain research that suggests that cognitive behavior therapy may
change brain chemistry and affect brain processes. Their discussion of
neurophysiology and depression is very readable and effectively looks at
mind-body complexities in depression in a way that helped me in my thinking
about the issues. The use of drugs in treatment is handled well and provides
thoughtful consideration of the pros and cons of the adjunctive use of
medications.In each chapter, the authors provide many questionnaires, forms
and lists that help the therapist keep ongoing track of what is changing or
not as the client proceeds with the therapy. They suggest explicit exercises
and home work assignments which can definitely facilitate the delivery of
a step by step systematic treatment to the client. A part of their strategy is
to have a workbook for a client that uses the same format as the therapist's
guideline. The workbook is an integral part of the program and can actively
engage clients in being aware of how they are doing. One of my major
questions when I started reading the guide and the workbook was whether
a depressed client would or could complete all the exercises and forms
given, The authors deal with this issue straight on, acknowledging that at first
the therapist must carry much of the work and the task of motivating the
client. They expect this to shift as the sessions proceed and that the client
will do much more. They also make it clear that the therapist needs to assess
the client's motivation to change before beginning the program. They do deal
some with what happens if the client can't or won't complete the requested
activity but I wish they had said more about this issue.
For therapists who use the cognitive approach and those who do not these
books bring together in a very readable form the current thinking about
this approach to depression which is definitely an important contribution
for therapists and clients.

Aaron T. Beck review from publication
This new and revised treatment manual sets a high mark for presenting
therapy in a clear and accessible manner. It contains the fundamentals
of treatment for the depressed individual in a readable and
user-friendly format. The concept of the depression BEAST (Body,
Emotion, Action, Situations, and Thoughts) allows for an easy
conceptualization of the components of mood, and at the same time is
whimsical and intriguing. It strikes just the right balance, and I
believe it is a refined contribution to the psychotherapist's toolkit
for providing empirically supported treatment that helps people improve
their mood and function better in their lives. (from Overcoming Depression Therapist Manual publication)----Aaron T. Beck, M.D., is the President of the non-profit Beck Institute for Cognitive Therapy and Research, and University Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania.The recipient of numerous awards and honorary degrees, Dr. Beck is the only psychiatrist to receive research awards from both the American Psychological Association and the American Psychiatric Association. He is also a senior member of the Institute of Medicine and recipient of the Albert Lasker Clincial Medical Research Award, the Heinz Award for "The Human Condition", The Sarnat Award and Lienhard Award from The Institute of Medicine.
... Read more

Product Description
Few periods in history compare to the Great Depression. Stock market crashes, bread lines, bank runs, and wild currency speculation were worldwide phenomena--all occurring with war looming in the background. This period has provided economists with a marvelous laboratory for studying the links between economic policies and institutions and economic performance. Here, Ben Bernanke has gathered together his essays on why the Great Depression was so devastating.

This broad view shows us that while the Great Depression was an unparalleled disaster, some economies pulled up faster than others, and some made an opportunity out of it. By comparing and contrasting the economic strategies and statistics of the world's nations as they struggled to survive economically, the fundamental lessons of macroeconomics stand out in bold relief against a background of immense human suffering. The essays in this volume present a uniquely coherent view of the economic causes and worldwide propagation of the depression. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (17)

Superb collection of highly technical essays on the Depression
This is a collection of essays by Ben Bernanke, who is currently the chairman of the Federal Reserve Board.At the time that he wrote these essays, he was a professor of economics at Stanford and then Princeton.This is not a book; it is not a connected whole.It is a collection of essays, which were written at different times for different reasons.The quality of the essays, and their level of interest to the non-technical reader, varies.

The essays have two things in common.First, they are written for a technically-trained economics audience.They are not aimed at the general reader. If you do not automatically understand the meaning of phrases such as the puzzle of the "non-neutrality of money" in the Depression, do not bother with this book; you will not follow the jargon.Second, the essays all have something to do with the Great Depression.As a whole, they add up to a sustained effort to explain the cause of the Depression, why it happened and why it lasted so long.

At their best, these essays are some of the best economic analysis that I have ever read. As Bernanke admits, he does not have a full explanation of the Depression.He explains a great deal, however.His basic explanation is that the Depression was caused by monetary and financial forces; it was not caused by any developments in the real economy.Specifically, the Depression was started by persistent and severe monetary contraction, caused, in the first instance, by the U.S. (and to some degree, France) refusing to play by the rules of the game of the gold standard.Although both the US and France had a large gold inflow, neither nation permitted its monetary stock to rise, as the gold stocks rose.This put persistent monetary pressure on the world financial system.The Fed then compounded the error, in 1928, by ineptly trying to dampen the great bull market on Wall Street in the late 1920s, and causing a severe monetary contraction.All of this brought on a sharp downturn.

Why did the downturn continue so long?That, as Bernanke says many times, is the great mystery of the Depression.What has been described thus far is neither unprecedented nor any big deal, in the grand scheme of things. This was enough to cause a cyclic business downturn.Why did the natural forces of balance and recovery not restore the economy to health after a year or two, as usually occurs?

One continuing answer was the gold standard.As the gold standard was then practiced, with the surplus nations sterilizing huge amounts of gold, the gold standard was a massive force for deflation.Those nations which left the gold standard tended to recover from the Depression fairly quickly.Those nations which stayed on the gold standard stayed down in the dumps.

The next big reason, according to Bernanke, is a series of banking panics, both in the US and in Europe.The above got the economy into a severe downturn in 1928 and 1929.This caused a great deal of deflation.Since banks assets are in fixed amounts, severe deflation threatens banks with insolvency.And at least two sets of banks were very vulnerable: the many one-unit banks in the US farm areas, and the Austrian banks which had a tradition of owning stock in industrial companies and thus being vulnerable to downturns.Both sets of banks had sharp panics, in which hundreds of US banks went down and most of the Central European banking system As Bernanke argues very cogently, a series of banking panics tends to cause a great deal of deflation and to depress real economic output.One of the great pleasures of these essays is Bernanke's very intelligent discussion of exactly how monetary and financial deflation leads (some of the time) to depressed real economic output.

There is another big puzzle in the Depression.Even as unemployment went very, very high, wages tended to stay high.In fact, because of general price deflation, wages tended to go up during the Depression, as nominal wages held steady in the face of general price deflation.Rising wages in a time of economic disaster increased unemployment.Why didn't wages do down?Bernanke wrestles with this question, in several essays, but never answers it very well.

Eassays of the Great Depression
I'm convinced that everything that happens with the economy is on purpose. Dull boring read but enlightening.

Modern Perspective of the Great Depression
Ben Bernanke's Essays on the Great Depression is a collection of 9 essays written in the 80's and 90's about the financial and labor markets during the 1930's.The essays are essentially a synthesis of prior work with greater mathematical rigor.For anyone wanting to know what caused the Great Depression, without reading an entire book, please read the first essay "The Macroeconomics of the Great Depression: A Comparative Approach." [...]

Bernanke's views regarding the Great Depression largely avoid the pre-80's debate over the 'money' hypothesis and 'spending' hypothesis.These views, argued by Friedman and Temin, used a quantitative analysis of the domestic markets and government policy.Instead, Bernanke assumes, and strongly supports, the view of Barry Eichengreen and Jeffery Sachs (1986) that the Gold Standard was the cause of the Great Depression.A sharp drop in the supply of money created a sharp drop in aggregate demand.Other factors, like sticky wages and prices, contributed to the Great Depression but were not the main factors.It was not until countries got off the Gold Standard that they were able to grow.

It is likely that the Federal Reserve or the Bank of England could have prevented a widespread depression between 1929-1930.However, after that period it remains doubtful whether either country could quell the Depression while maintaining the Gold Standard.It is important to note that the Great Depression was not caused by the USA alone (as commonly held before the 1980's).Bernanke is unable to explain what caused the Depression but can prove that it was not only the US (by inference the cause was international).

Due to the limited amount of statistics about the Great Depression Bernanke is forced to make MANY assumptions when building econometric models.At points his methodology becomes somewhat questionable (to his credit he often mentions this to the reader).Nevertheless, when Bernanke reaches his conclusions he is quite confident of the results (which is somewhat troubling...).

Overall: a great analysis of the Great Depression.In the academic circles, to my knowledge, Bernanke's conclusions remain the standard.(For some reason Macroeconomic textbooks seem to ignore both Beranke and Eichengreen's work -- I don't know why).

Important background
Bernanke's essays are well known to economists, but difficult for the lay person.But the volume is useful for reference. He has better understanding of what went on in that terrrible time than anyone else.

HARD CORE BUT WORTH THE READ
He's one of the most powerful men of the world as chairmen of the fed, need I say more. It's worth a read to see how Bernanke looks into things. I've taken a couple of economic courses and this book still feels overwhelming to me. At the very least I can say that I whole heartedly have faith in the guy. ... Read more

Product Description
Rothbard opens with a theoretical treatment of business cycle theory, showing how an expansive monetary policy generates imbalances between investment and consumption. He proceeds to examine the Fed's policies of the 1920s, demonstrating that it was quite inflationary even if the effects did not show up in the price of goods and services. He showed that the stock market correction was merely one symptom of the investment boom that led inevitably to a bust. The Great Depression was not a crisis for capitalism but merely an example of the downturn part of the business cycle, which in turn was generated by government intervention in the economy. Had the book appeared in the 1940s, it might have spared the world much grief. Even so, its appearance in 1963 meant that free-market advocates had their first full-scale treatment of this crucial subject. The damage to the intellectual world inflicted by Keynesian- and socialist-style treatments would be limited from that day forward.

About the Author

Murray N. Rothbard, the author of 25 books and thousands of articles, was a historian, philosopher, and dean of the Austrian School of economics. The S.J. Hall Distinguished Professor of Economics at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, he was also Academic Vice President of the Ludwig von Mises Institute in Auburn, Ala. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (38)

Look out.. this book could have been a prequel
After finishing this book, the first thing that struck me was how similar our government's response is to economic problems. Of course, the great depression is still much worse than what we are going through in 2008-2010 but the similarities are scary. Obama has done many similar things that Hoover did in the early 1930's and I just hope with today's speed of innovation and faster pace of life, our economy recovers quicker and doesn't need a WW III to pull us out. The Federal Reserve was faulted much in this book and you can say it's faulted much in today's world too. I see some other reviews saying this book is outdated. I couldn't disagree with you more. In summary, this book is a great crystal ball and well worth your time to read.

Priceless
This book is invaluable. Most of the negative reviews are by readers who are either completely misinformed, obviously didn't read the book, or just dismiss it as being "dry". The book is filled with cold hard economic facts backed up by a solid theory. So if you are interested in learning the real economics behind the great depression, this is a must read.

A bold iconoclastic view of the Great Depression
Published in 1963, this book remains extraordinarily radical.In it, libertarian economist Murray Rothbard attacks our entire understanding of the Great Depression.The consensus view of the Great Depression is fairly simple.When the Crash of 1929 occurred, Republican President Herbert Hoover was stubbornly committed to the laissez-faire policy of doing nothing.As a result, the depression became extremely severe and prolonged.What he should have done (says Keynesians such as Paul Krugman) is to embark on a vast campaign of public spending.What he should have done (says the Chicago school through Milton Friedman) is to greatly expand the money supply.Since he did neither (says both) nothing useful was done until FDR become President, and started the modern world through his New Deal policies.(Perhaps the best statement of this perspective is that of Paul Krugman in The Return of Depression Economics and The Conscience of a Liberal.)

A crack, however, has appeared in the consensus view.At this point, most people admit that FDR, in fact, did not end the Great Depression, that the downturn continued until World War Two.The lesson that most economists draw from this, however, is that FDR had the right general policies, but he did not pursue them hard enough.Had he spent in a truly huge manner, as we did when fighting Hitler, the Depression would have been ended years sooner.The problem, in short, is that FDR was not Keynesian enough (or sufficiently committed to monetary expansion, if one is a monetarist).Another problem with the consensus view is that they do not explain why the Great Depression was so severe and prolonged.After all, the business cycle has been a persistent feature of our system since at least the early 19th century.Many downturns occurred.Why was this one so severe and prolonged?

Rothbard attacks this entire view of the Depression.As he sees it, the entire debacle was caused by unwise government meddling in the economy.His explanation is split into two stages.First, he explains the original downturn as being an inevitable byproduct of the boom of the 1920s.In the first part of the book, he sets out the Austrian theory of the business cycle.The government and the banking system artificially expand the money supply (meaning, not just currency, but all currency substitutes such as bank deposits and so forth).This caused a boom, but like the boom we just went through, an artificial and unsustainable boom.This boom inevitably collapsed, with the Crash of 1929.

Had the government done little or nothing, as it did in most prior downturns, the free market would rapidly have cleared up the problem.It would have done so by pushing prices and wages down, and driving unsound investments to be liquidated.As Rothbard points out with great force, there had been a sharp downturn in 1921.The government did nothing.Prices fell, wages fell and prosperity was restored after about a year.

Hoover, however, was not a laissez-faire free market believer.On the contrary, as Rothbard documents at length, Hoover was committed to an entirely new view of the role of government in the economy.As Rothbard shows, Hoover was deeply committed to an activist government approach.Above all, Hoover wanted wages not to fall. He also wanted farm prices not to fall.As Rothbard shows, Hoover used all of his power as President to try and hold up wages, and he was very successful in this endeavor.Wages did NOT fall during the Depression.Since sales and profits had fallen, and since wages were not falling, the inevitable result was mass unemployment.Hoover, Rothbard argued, prevented the free market from working.As a result, the downturn did not pass, but became virtually permanent.The fault, he argues, was entirely that of Hoover and the government.And, he argues, Hoover was not laissez-faire, but instead started virtually all of the programs later associated with FDR and the New Deal.

This is a re-interpretation of American history that is breath-taking in its scope.Rothbard is not only anti-FDR, he is against the historical pro-business program of the Republican Party.Rothbard calls himself a follower of the Austrian school economics and particularly of Ludwig Von Mises.In American terms, however, he is a follower of a very old, and almost entirely forgotten school, that of Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson and the 19th century hard money opponents of the Federalists, Whigs and Republicans.

Rothbard makes a very good, sustained argument for this extremely unfashionable point of view.Personally, I am wrestling with what he says, and thinking through the degree to which I agree with him.I suggest that anyone interested in fundamental economic and political issues should read Rothbard.Whether you agree with him or not, he makes a very strong case that will really make you think.

Excellent
Excellent book.Meticulously supported by details and logic.Make sure to have a dictionary on hand or to have taken a university level economics class.

One of the most important books I've read
This was my first real book on economics. Starting with this masterpiece was a little intimidating, since I hadn't even read Hazlitt's Economics in One Lesson yet.

I soon found out that Rothbard was clear, easy to understand and convincing. There is no complex economic jargon, so this book is for anyone with even a modest economic vocabulary.

The book is broken up into three parts:
-PART I: BUSINESS CYCLE THEORY
-PART II: THE INFLATIONARY BOOM: 1921-1929
-PART III: THE GREAT DEPRESSION: 1929-1933

In the first part Rothbard explains the Austrian business cycle theory and addresses many of the alternative theories and criticisms. Rothbard does an impressive job and doesn't leave much room for doubt. There is clarity in his arguments and at no point do you feel confused or lost. It seems to make sense.

Part two leaves the realm of theory behind and transforms the book into a thriller-like tragedy. We all know what happens in the end, but it is still quite intriguing to follow a story of foolish policies created by foolish policy makers. The "villains" and "good guys" are introduced here(note: Rothbard does not present it like this, but I simply have some extra imagination).

Rothbard goes through the boom with great detail, which also means that the most boring part of the book is here. It's good to know that the research has been done, but statistics and numbers aren't the most fascinating things to look at. Not that there's a lot of them, but still(yeah, I kind of forced myself to remember something even slightly bad about this book).

Part three starts by completely destroying the idea of Hoover being laissez-faire. I already knew that Hoover wasn't laissez-faire, but Rothbard shows that not only was Hoover not laissez-faire during the Depression, but he had been pushing interventionist policies since at least 1920. After this Rothbard goes through all of the harmful government policies from 1929 to 1933. From Smoot-Hawley to public works, the logical fallacies behind the policies enacted are clear to anyone, yet law after another gets passed. The last part of the book should be read at least once every few years, just as a reminder of how to not do things.

The book does not go much beyond 1933, which was my biggest complaint about the book when I read it. To remedy this, Robert Murphy's The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Great Depression and the New Deal (The Politically Incorrect Guides) should do the trick.

It would be impossible for me to give anything but five stars to this book. The flaws are minor, but the positive impact Murray had on me through this book was immense. I did not expect there to be much theory, so the first part completely blew me away.

Economics hasn't been a hobby for me for some time now. I now consider it my calling. Hopefully I'll be able to call it my career soon. On the long list of people who made me take this path, there will always be the one who made me-at the time a complete novice in economics-understand; the one who made difficult things simple:
Murray N. Rothbard ... Read more

Product Description
Peak Oil is the point of maximum global oil production.In Peak Oil and the Second Great Depression (2010-2030), the author argues that the likely peak in global oil production occurred in the period 2005-2008, due to the peaking of Saudi Arabian oil production during that time.The evidence of a peak in Saudi crude oil production in 2008 is presented and discussed in some detail.The most significant piece of evidence of a Saudi peak in production in 2008 was the inability of Saudi oil ministers to increase production in the period 2005 to 2008 despite record crude oil prices and the drilling of thousands of new wells in Saudi Arabia's seven major oil fields.Because it could not increase production in the face of rising global demand, Saudi Arabia was unable to prevent a spike in the price of oil to around $150 a barrel.A dramatic economic contraction in the developed economies ensued.

In the years ahead, it is argued, continued economic growth in the developing world including China will put upward pressure on the price of oil, which will create severe economic difficulties for the indebted developed economies such as the US which rely on imported energy.The book examines the likely policy responses of American statesmen and central bankers to the economic difficulties created by very high prices for petroleum.Oil at very high and indeed painful prices in the face of already historic levels of personal and governmental indebtedness, it is argued, will create large scale unemployment on levels not seen since the (First) Great Depression as expenditures for foreign oil dramatically reduce spending available for the domestic economy.

The author argues that the policy response to the economic difficulties will be to create a general rise in the price level to reduce the burden of the existing debt on households, businesses and governmental entities.As prices, and especially wages, rise, domestic spending will recover and unemployment will be reduced, although this process could take several decades.Very significant inflation will likely be necessary to prevent an even more severe drop in employment and output in the economy than that we are already experiencing given the magnitude of the shock to the economy created by continued declines in global oil production.

The inflation thus created, as well as the other dramatic changes in the economy as a result of Peak Oil, will alter the approach that would optimally be taken by investors and those wishing to preserve savings.The issues of asset allocation and sector weighting are explored together with alternative investments in commodities and real estate.The focus is primarily on domestic equities, but a rather unusual sector weighting strategy is proposed as most likely to produce positive results during two decades that will otherwise be most disappointing for the investing public.

Peak Oil will also create opportunities for speculation which are explored in the final chapters of the book. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Great Primer on Frightening Topic
I have read several books about Peak Oil and can recommend this book as one of the best.If you want a quick and enjoyable read that will get you up to speed on the Peak Oil issue, this is the book you need.As another reviewer remarked, the author wrote the book concisely and to the point (like a lawyer).It doesn't need to be longer.As for the sample investment portfolios, I have mixed feelings.I definitely fall into the doom and gloom camp and believe civilization will collapse to a much lower level of complexity.Nonetheless, I might be wrong and am hedging my bets that Wall Street will continue to exist for some time.So, I do have investments and the model portfolios in this book will certainly affect my investment choices going forward.

Simple, Precise, Brilliant!
Simple, precise, to the point and brilliant!The author states his case, backs it up with model portfolio's and wastes no words.(and he's a lawyer)A very good and easy read, yet not lacking in detail.Only 72 pages in length, not much more than an essay, yet he say's what he needs to say.Makes you wonder if all the "thick" books are just word wasters.
If you are inclined to believe that there is only so much "crude oil" in the world, and the "printing of money" is not without consequences, then you will enjoy this book.The author not only states his case, but backs it up with several portfolios that you can tailor to fit your need.I would say buying and reading this book, and then following through, with some action, could be the best investment decision we could all make over the foreseeable future. Investing in this book, is money and time well spent. ... Read more

Product Description

This has been a pivotal question since America's inception. Am I not happy enough because I am depressed? is a more recent version. In the past twenty years, as antidepressants have become staples of our medicine chests -- upward of thirty million Americans are taking them at an annual cost of more than ten billion dollars -- more people have begun to ask themselves if their unhappiness is a disease that can, and should, be treated by medication.

Part memoir, part intellectual history, part exposé, Manufacturing Depression reveals how this question has come to dominate our understanding of our suffering. Author Gary Greenberg draws on sources ranging from the Old Testament to current medical journals and scholarship to his twenty-five years as a psychotherapist and his own experience as a depression patient to show how the idea that depression is a widespread chronic disease has been packaged by brilliant scientists, doctors, and marketing experts -- and why it is has become wildly successful in the marketplace of ideas.

Rather than asking whether or not depression is a disease, or whether or not we should take drugs to ease our pain, Greenberg asks what we gain and lose by taking this approach, and who benefits when we do. Manufacturing Depression allows readers to think of depression not just as an illness, but as a story about our suffering, its source, and its relief. A remarkably intelligent, witty, and deeply perceptive writer and professional observer, Greenberg has insights and perspective that are bound to spark much debate, and challenge many -- experts and casual readers alike -- to view depression in a wholly new light. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (37)

To Drug or Not to Drug?
With all the ads on television and in magazines touting the effects of wondrous anti-depression medications, it's hard to know what's real and what's manufactured by spin doctors.It's even become increasingly difficult to know if depression (excluding the seriously debilitating kind) is something that is truly unhealthy.Does it need to be treated with drugs or not?If you pay attention to all the advertising we're bombarded with, you come away feeling that you need medication. Why?Money, baby!

In my (unprofessional) opinion, medication can be a wonderful, life-changing thing for some people, but for many, it's unnecessary, maybe even harmful. (And I'm not even talking about all those side effects the advertisers are required to list off.)

The differentiation between "normal" depression and the devastating kind is blurrier than ever. Normal depression, some experts say, is important. This makes sense because it helps you change gears and find new things to do that will improve your life; it gives you a reason to try to pull out of a rut, a bad situation, or lousy relationship. If you medicate this kind of depression away, it seems to me that it may lead to more serious, long-term depression because you've done nothing that doesn't involve drugs to get rid of it.

Author Gary Greenberg has suffered lifelong bouts of depression, and has written a fabulous book that covers his own and others' experiences as well as the technical aspects of depression, the standard views of the medical/pharma folks, and the marketers who have turned depression into a money-making mainstay for pharmaceutical companies.

Greenberg also gives us a complete history of depression and its treatments, minor to major, and he does so with wit and verve, covering everything from early theories to Freud, to shock therapy, surgery, and modern ideas about serotonin and other chemicals our brains manufacture. The subject is serious, but the writing is amusing, and at times, laugh-out-loud funny.It sort of makes the book a possible anecdote if you're feeling blue.

Greenberg covers it all in this hefty tome, and it's absolutely fascinating, fun, and will help you understand yourself and your own needs. He offers a plethora of ideas.If you use or are considering using drugs -- or giving them up, for that matter, I recommend reading the book.There are many options, many theories, and knowledge is power. Big thumbs up!

This is some mountain to climb!
and at the end of it I was depressed.

The author simply drags this out too much.

This is a lot of information crammed into 400 paes, mixed with Psychological history, ranging from Freud to Pavlov, and the efforts of the drug companies to "market" depression, along with the authors own individual struggles as both patient and counselor.

Frankly, there is so much info, I couldn't finish the book.

Chapter 9 begins:
"This chapter is going to be full of words like catecholamine, and iminodibenzyl and phenothiazine.I'm not exactly apologizing for this, but I am warning you:this might be a good time to take a stret and get some coffee..."

Amen to that, and that's what I did.

A rambling, confusing account
This is a very confused and confusing book, and I kept on reading it not so much because I liked it,but because I wanted to figure out why anyone else would like it (all those great reviews) and because I became intrigued with the workings of the author's mind. What, I wondered was the source of all his confusion and anger?

As a history of the modern concept of depression and the development of antidepressants, I found that it meandered here and there, dipped into this and that, and did not keep up a coherent story line or argument. There were anecdotes that seemed beside the point.After a while, I became so frustrated that I decided to skip the middle chapters of the book. (Chapter 13 on CBT was an exception; it was lucid and informative.)

The development of the author's own ideas on depression is even more disordered. This is a person, a therapist, who cured his own depression by taking an illegal drug, but who is vehemently opposed to seeing depression as a biochemical illness. This is a person who seeks treatment for his own depression (and treats others) --so he must understand how destructive and degrading depression can be, but he treats those who would cure it by physical means as enemies of humanity. (Easy enough to do when you're talking about pharmaceutical companies--isn't the phrase "shooting fish in a barrel"?)

Finally, toward the end of the book, I began to see (I think) the source of the author's inconsistencies and anger. He seems to be one of these "Either/Or" thinkers. So either depression is a psychological/existential condition that results from the tragedies and indignities of life, or it's a biological/chemical illness. This kind of thinking dooms the book from the start. If you think you have to make a choice, you're always going to choose meaning over chemicals and be angry at anyone who suggests otherwise.

But of course, there is no either/or. It is both the case that depression is biological and that it is psychological. There is room for both psychotherapists and neuroscientists. Depression is caused by both physical events in the brain and by psychological events, thoughts, and meanings in one's life. And depression is cured both by physical means (drugs, shock, exercise) and by psychological means (therapy, improved relationships, new interpretations.)

By the end of the book, the author seemed to be figuring this out. I hope so. But I also hope that those who want to understand depression go elsewhere. The most insightful and helpful book on depression I have found is "The Mindful Way Through Depression."

Manufacturing depression
An unusually interesting book: historically accurate, illuminating a current perversion of our society consisting in transforming into diseases many unpleasant situations, and putting them under medical guard; but physicians are not at all trained for dealing with this highly complex human situations; highly readable, some time sarcastic, I very much enjoyed it.

Now I'm REALLY Depressed!
I recommend this book for anyone who suffers from depression, especially those who are taking any kind of depression medication.

By laying out the history of the treatment of mental disorders through the years, the author makes a pretty convincing case that folks are buying just as much snake oil today as they did back in the nineteenth century.

Only now, the FDA and the AMA seem to be endorsing it.

The author dissects most of the so-called facts behind the claimed efficacy of these drugs, and boy, have we been sold a bill of goods.Or bads.

It seems that most of the pills have little more effect than placebos like sugar pills.But sugar pills don't have horrendous side effects like suppressing your libido or making you commit suicide.

As for the various talking cures, no one is really more effective than another.But -- there is some therapy in the simple act of seeking therapy -- finding an empathetic professional to talk to.

Folks, as someone who has made a living -- or in recent years, tried to -- in the field of advertising, believe me when I say what it took me many years to admit to myself: the more they try to sell you something, the less you actually need it!

I will also confirm what any review of the help wanted ads will prove: the one area of advertising that has grown in leaps and bounds in recent years is health care, including pharmaceuticals.Deduce what you will!

The author includes some of his own experiences with mental health professionals in this book, which are equally enlightening.He also has a ready wit, a kind heart, and more clear-headed wisdom than most of the so-called professionals in his field, all of which he displays here, even in passages dense with chemical formulas.

I did deduct one star, because it felt as if there was a bit of redundancy in the book -- the author repeats many of the same arguments throughout.

Still I would strongly encourage anyone who is thinking of taking an anti-depressant to read this book first.

You may conclude that it is far more safe and effective to get on board Willie Nelson's bus than take prescription meds, especially if you use a vaporizer to eliminate dangerous tars when inhaling...

And for heaven's sake -- even if you have a spiffy new flat-screen TV that continues to work for longer than a year or two -- TURN IT OFF OCCASIONALLY!Read a book -- like this one... ... Read more

Product Description
Depression is a secret pain at the core of many men's lives, and one that goes largely undiagnosed and untreated. The consequences of not treating male depression are extremely serious.Studies show that suicide is more common in men than women, and tha the male suicide rate is three times higher at midlife than at any other life stage. In Unmasking Male Depression, Dr. Archibald Hart explores the many forms of depression and gives tools for coping with and healing depression in men. Hart also examines the lives of Christian leaders who struggled with depression, such as Charles Spurgeon, Martin Luther, and John Calvin, to reveal the myths surrounding this illness ... Read more

Customer Reviews (18)

Unmasking Male Depression
I ordered this book, because I am married to someone who struggles with depression. I found this book to be very informative, as the symptoms and underlying causes of male depression are very different from women who struggle with depression. I haven't yet finished the book, but have been very happy so far with the purchase.

The Best Male resource on depression I ever read
There are many resources about depression. Unfortunately, most, if not all, are geared toward women. This targets men as the subject of the book. It's written in a no nonsense style that's easy to read and I couldn't put it down easily until it was finished. I highly recommend it to anyone...depressed or not!!

Unmasking Male Depression
This may very well be a good book for every male to read, except those who are happy, content, and never have anything in life disrupt those attributes.:)It may also be instructional for every woman married to one of those men.

This is an easy read, and although it has scriptural underpinnings, it should not by discounted by those with agnostic or atheistic beliefs.It is easily palatable to those with and without religion as part of their lives.

I highly recommend it!

Evangelical
Dr. Hart is an Evangelical minister, he says so in the forward, there are entire sections of the book you can skip if you are not Christian (Depressed males in the bible, and was Jesus emotional), but there's better information than in "I don't want to talk about it". There's real tratment options and sypmtomology, things your doctor should be looking for. It doesn't quite make suggestions for what questions you should ask your therapist, or psychiatrist, (Depression Fallout DOES do that though!)
Now it was published in 2001, there are new Anti-depresseants out now that aren't mentioned, new treatments that weren't being used yet when it was initially published. It'd be great if Dr. Hart could update it and republish it without the religious claptrap, or do two versions, one for the Xian male and the one that is strictly clinical.

Not what I expected
I was very dissapointed with this read. The tone and diction for the book came across as overly religious, while the grammar is off-key and at times annoying(exclamation points come early and often). I never questioned the author's sincerity or background on the subject, but found myself putting it down after only a few short sessions. ... Read more

Product Description
I tell of a time, a place, and a way of life long gone. For many years I have had the urge to describe that treasure trove, lest it vanish forever. So, partly in response to the basic human instinct to share feelings and experiences, and partly for the sheer joy and excitement of it all, I report on my early life. It was quite a romp.

So begins Mildred Kalish’s story of growing up on her grandparents’ Iowa farm during the depths of the Great Depression. With her father banished from the household for mysterious transgressions, five-year-old Mildred and her family could easily have been overwhelmed by the challenge of simply trying to survive. This, however, is not a tale of suffering.

Kalish counts herself among the lucky of that era. She had caring grandparents who possessed—and valiantly tried to impose—all the pioneer virtues of their forebears, teachers who inspired and befriended her, and a barnyard full of animals ready to be tamed and loved. She and her siblings and their cousins from the farm across the way played as hard as they worked, running barefoot through the fields, as free and wild as they dared.

Filled with recipes and how-tos for everything from catching and skinning a rabbit to preparing homemade skin and hair beautifiers, apple cream pie, and the world’s best head cheese (start by scrubbing the head of the pig until it is pink and clean), Little Heathens portrays a world of hardship and hard work tempered by simple rewards. There was the unsurpassed flavor of tender new dandelion greens harvested as soon as the snow melted; the taste of crystal clear marble-sized balls of honey robbed from a bumblebee nest; the sweet smell from the body of a lamb sleeping on sun-warmed grass; and the magical quality of oat shocking under the light of a full harvest moon.

Little Heathens offers a loving but realistic portrait of a “hearty-handshake Methodist” family that gave its members a remarkable legacy of kinship, kindness, and remembered pleasures. Recounted in a luminous narrative filled with tenderness and humor, Kalish’s memoir of her childhood shows how the right stuff can make even the bleakest of times seem like “quite a romp.”


From the Hardcover edition. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (128)

Memoirs of a Depression Kid
How things have changed from yesterday to today.This is a delightful memoir filled with loads of humor.In fact, there are quite a few laughs to be gotten from reading this book, plus lots of human knowledge.There was plenty of hard work, both housework and farm chores that needed to be done.But there were many hands to get it accomplished.Even the youngest, the little kids, as the author calls them were made to help.So the family all worked together.

There were seven in Mildred's immediate family, Mildred's grandparents, her mother, two older brothers, Mildred herself, and her little sister.Her father was absent from the family and never heard from.Mildred never knew why.

The grandparents were strict and expected good behavior, good manners, and good conduct from their grandchildren. Strong character was needed and should be built from babyhood.Grandpa was land rich, he owned four farms, but money was scarce.During long cold Iowa winters only the living room and kitchen were heated to conserve heat.Mrs Kalich was brought up upon saving,recycling everything.recycle, recycle as everything was used and reused and reused again in her childhood home.That family was today modern as people of today are encouraaged to recycle, recycle, recycle.The kids were required to eat healthy and to eat everything on their plates.Waste not, want not was one of the mottos of the grandparents plus many other bon mots.Mildred, her mother and other siblings would move out to Grandpa's farm from September until Christmas and attend a one room school where her mother had once taught.Their mother pretty much allowed her kids to do whatever they wanted to, to have much more freedom.So Mildred and her brothers and sister were brought up in two opposite ways, too strict, too much freedom.

There was wonderful Great Aunt Belle who was as much a kid as her great nephews and nieces and was good at spoiling them, making up parties and games.She gave Mildred a good opinion of herself.She was as good and as pretty as any other little girl.Mildred, as too many little girls, felt she was not pretty.

There was plenty of food.Thanksgiving was well celebrated.Relatives came together and all brought their best dishes.Mrs Kalish writes about all the home grown food plus well fed animals.To this day she states she has never tasted food as good as the home cooking, home grown food of her childhood.There is a section in this book containing recipes for farm food.This family had an abundance of food.Books and magazines were welcome in this house and the kids were encouraged to read.The whole family, except Grandma, was readers.This is so, so, so different from many homes during the Great Depression.Too many people had little food and couldn't even afford newspapers.This house was well to do.However, there was very few homes with indoor plumbing in the small Iowa town Professor Kalich was from.Indoor plumbing was a luxury.Children were switched with a buggy whip.When they got in trouble in school they got worse when their parents heard of their misdeeds.Things are much different today.Mildred went to the small town school when she was staying in town.

Because of her country upbringing, Professor Kalich learned to know the names of trees, flowers, plants and to love all of them.She had many different animal pets, both domestic and wild.She learned to love the verdant country with its seasons to love nature and wild things.

Mrs Kalich has come far from her childhood roots but it has made her into the strong and independant woman she has become.

A Little Disappointing
I had this recommended to me and read many of the reviews before buying. But no where did I find anyone who mentioned the bad language. In fact, there's a whole chapter,listing the words that were said and by whom. Also, I guess I expected the book to be one about survival but the author's family was obviously well-to-do. My parents grew up on farms in big families during the Depression but their lifestyles were obviously much different. I didn't see any cornbread and buttermilk suppers. Also, much of their daily lives were built around the church, something the author has little use for.It's probably the area of the country they were raised in but I read this book, planning to pass it along to the four "girls" still living (2 in their 90s) but I'm afraid it's a little too "high spirited." It frankly sometimes read almost like it was being copied from a notebook and the author wanted to make certain she included everything that was expected in a book like this. A few times the book was entertaining but other times I was left wondering if some of these things really happened or they were just included to "spice" up the book. I sure would haveliked to have known the names of the "Big Kids" and "Little Kids", their anonymity leaving the reader wondering. I can't recommend this to my 91 year old mother or my 13 year old grandson because of the language and of the cavalier attitude toward churches, both something that some people take seriously.

Little Heathens: Hard Times and High Spirits on an Iowa Farm durning the Great Depression
I recommend Little Heathens completely.Mildred A. Kalish captures the experience of growing up during the depression on a farm so completely. Her book is an inspiration and so very highly recommended.Although I am somewhat younger than Mrs. Kalish,I grew up in similar circumstances on a Michigan farm & found it hard to put the book down. Enjoy.
Robert Jones

A book to own and keep
I read this book when it first came out, loaned by my library.A year later, I want to re-read it and knew it was a keeper, so I bought it through Amazon.Even if only
for the recipes, one should own this book, but I have now re-read it three times for memories and prose as rich as fresh cream from Millie's Iowa farm.Millie is
a great role model in another way:how old was she when she first published a book????Thank you, Millie.

Iowa book
LITTLE HEATHENS gives the experience of a young girl growing up in Iowa during the Depression.Good portrayal. ... Read more

Product Description
'Is it weird in here or is it just me?' is a book will give you more of an insight into depression than any other you’ll ever read on the illness.If you are caring for someone with depression or you’re a parent and would like to arm yourself with accurate knowledge of its symptoms, then this book lets you experience the illness from a remarkably honest perspective.For some reason (perhaps known only to God), the author was given an opportunity to write extensively about his depression while he was hospitalised and while he was actually experiencing the blitzkrieg of symptoms that depression presents.

This book is unique because most of it is written in real time, which means that in every way, it’s a realistic and practical guide for any person or parent who is caring for someone with depression, explaining what’s actually happening within the sufferer’s mind at the time of experiencing the symptoms of the illness.

Further, it provides you, the carer, with a great slab of sensible and realistic on-the-spot advice on how to best offer support for the person you’re caring for – whatever the symptom.Finally and most importantly, this book is written for the person you’re caring for, because through you, it will help validate their own experiences and reassure them that what they’re experiencing isn’t abnormal or crazy (at least in the sense of what depression is) – it’s actually the depression that’s made their life so unpredictable and almost all of the time, so desolate and so very desperate.

The author's knowledge of psychology and treatment options for mental illness is extensive, however his own hospitalisation with depression has been the ultimate experience that has enabled him to provide such an intensely personal and highly informative guide.

As you’ll read, Rod’s life is an open book – in fact, it IS this book – and through it you’ll find all of the answers to the questions you seek on depression.

Thanks to his efforts, depression is no longer the secret it once was.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

This book describes what depression is *really* like!!
I can't express how much I want you to read this book. Rod has written down what is truly going on in the mind of a depressed person, and what is most remarkable is that he wrote it while he was himself in the middle of a *deep* clinical depression, He describes what depressed persons think about (it's really all they do), what their suffering is really like, as they experience their worst days.

He also describes their good days, and at least one or two things that can help a depressed person have one. My personal favorite is the observation (and I am paraphrasing an entire chapter here) that "affirmations don't generally work for a depressive, but having a depressed person recollect previous good moments in their life, when they had done something of value to themselves, can be a transformative experience for them"

I am very grateful to Rod for writing this book. I hope everyone who suffers depression and all of their friends, family, and medical professionals get to read this book. It will truly, truly, truly help them battle this terrible thing that is depression.

A DEFINITE must-buy
This is the first time I've ever written a review for a book, let alone give it top marks, so that'll give you an indication of what I thought about this book called Is It Weird in Here or is it Just Me.

I must have read hundreds of books on depression in an effort to try and help my son who's now in his early twenties and help me understand what's going on with him.This is the FIRST (believe me, it's true) book that has made such a big impact upon me and my relationship with my son, and it sounds corny I know, but it's also the first one where I've laughed, cried and learned so much all in one hit.

The author said that his book is unlike any other book on depression and he's right.The perspective of one who is writing the book while he's suffering and hospitalised is just extraordinary.And knowing what my son has been through, I don't know how the author wrote it, but I'm extremely glad he did.When you read the book, it'll be almost like you know him, that's how personal it gets - but that's a good thing.In fact, I think it's necessary.

This should be compulsory reading for anyone who's caring for someone with depression or a mood disorder.I'm not sure whether the author is marketing this book elsewhere, but if he isn't he most definitely should be, because everyone should read it, not just those of us lucky enough to have a Kindle or other ebook reader.

I just can't get over this book - it's made such an impact on me... Trust me, if you're caring for someone with depression, this is the book you need to read.I stumbled across it, bought it `just in case' it was good, and it was brilliant.To the author, my son and I thank you.
... Read more

Product Description
A customized, drug-free program that attacks the biochemical roots of depression -- with a 90% success rate

Not all depressions are alike. And despite the attention given to Prozac and other drugs, there quite literally is no magic pill. Instead, writes Dr. Gabriel Cousens, someone who suffers from depression needs a customized, individual program, one that attacks the personal, biochemical roots of the problem.

In Depression-Free for Life, Dr. Cousens shows how to heal depression safely by synergistically rebalancing what he calls "the natural drugs of the brain," using a five-step program of mood-boosting substances, vitamin and mineral supplements, and a mood-enhancing diet and lifestyle. Grounded in cutting-edge science, yet accessible and safe, this book shows how to regain your optimism and energy through balancing your own biochemistry.

Depression-Free for Life

• Helps you customize your approach through easy self-assessment exercises
• Outlines a five-step program for harnessing your own body chemistry
• Incluedes a seven-day menu plan
• Features thirty savory but simple recipes

Customer Reviews (18)

Not For Everyone
This book will help people whose depression is due to their food choices. However, everyones is. Some people actually have chemical imbalances in their brains. As a result they do not need therapy and they do not need to change their diets (nor does this help, I should know, I have tried every diet under the sun for depression including the authors), they need anti-depressants to raise the seratonin level in their brains. If you come from a severly dysfunctional family, changing your diet and getting theapy might be what you need. If you simply have a chemical imbalance in your brain, then you do not need to change your diet or go into therapy. You need medication. I have never had therapy in my life. I'm on Paxil and for over 6 years I have had NO depression or anxiety.This book is NOT for everyone.

Fantastiv knowledge!
This is a fantastic book for any human beeing who wants to feel happy in their life, but in particular people suffering from depression, and want to get of the pharmasuticals....
You get to learn wich natural products to take for your own brain and body to produce the things you need to have a good and healthy mood.... It is hard to set a price on such knowledge!! Thang you Mr Cousins!!

Love from a very happy Norwegian

Excellent book
Excellent book.Very technical at first but needed to determine type of depression you may have and then it goes into wat foods/supplements needed to lessen the symptoms.Will be a great reference book for my libary.

Works.Period.
Others reviewers have said a bit about what's actually in the book, so I won't repeat them here.I only wanted to post a review so that people suffering from depression and looking for a great resource will be encouraged to buy this book.I've suffered from depression for well over a decade and have always refused the prescription cure.Dr. Cousens outlines here a plan that works.I've been taking the vitamins and supplements he recommends and feel about a million times better.More energy, level moods, and a positive outlook on life.Buy the book.Head to your natural vitamins and supplements store.Feel better.It really is that easy.(You'll also need to eat healthier if you're not doing that already.Crap food = crap mood, sorry to say.)Thank you, Dr. Cousens.

answers to long pondered questions
Depression-Free for Life, is an easy to read and comprehend. It has answered lots of questions , that I would not have known where to get answers for except maybe in a medical journal. My sincere thanks for this opportunity. ... Read more

Product Description
Includes CD-ROM with Reproducible Forms!

This one-of-a-kind resource provides the busy practitioner with empirically supported treatments for seven frequently encountered disorders: major depression, generalized anxiety, panic and agoraphobia, PTSD, social phobia, specific phobia, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Serving as ready-to-use treatment packages, chapters describe basic cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) techniques and how to tailor them to each disorder. Also featured are diagnostic flow charts; therapist forms for assessment and record keeping; client handouts and homework sheets; and session-by-session case examples. Tips for troubleshooting common therapeutic roadblocks are presented, as are strategies for ensuring third-party payment authorization. The searchable CD-ROM enables clinicians to rapidly generate individualized treatment plans, print extra copies of therapist and client forms, find the facts about commonly prescribed medications, and learn more about cognitive-behavioral techniques. Facilitating effective treatment that is adapted to the realities of the typical outpatient setting, including the demands of managed care, this book and CD-ROM will be prized by novice and experienced clinicians alike.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Excellent resource for new psychologists!
I'm a PhD candidate (clinical psych) and got this book based on a friend's recommendation.It is super helpful.It has brief sample case conceptualizations (mainly CBT, but other modalities when appropriate) and step by step treatment plans for different depression and anxiety disorders.It also has worksheets and a CD so you can print and use them whenever you want.It's easy reading, but not just fluff.Strongly recommend to anyone looking for a CBT treatment guide.

Very Practical
This is about the most practical book I have purchased for counseling. I cannot recommend it enough.

Great for beginners
This book is an excellent guide for beginners, spelling out CBT techniques clearly and in a practical way for each disorder. Treatment plans are easy to follow. CD with extra information is brilliant with many useful client handouts.

great condition, thanks
Thanks for the book - it was in excellent condition and arrived in good time.

Very pleased
I wish that I had found this text years earlier.I especially liked the CD that accompanied the book. ... Read more

Product Description
This book presents an innovative eight-session program that has been clinically proven to bolster recovery from depression and prevent relapse. Developed by leading scientist-practitioners, and solidly grounded in current psychological research, the approach integrates cognitive therapy principles and practice into a mindfulness framework. Clinicians from any background will find vital tools to help clients maintain gains made by prior treatment and to expand the envelope of care to remission and beyond.Illustrative transcripts and a wealth of reproducible materials, including session summaries and participant forms, enhance the clinical utility of the volume. Clinicians are also guided in establishing their own mindfulness practice, an essential prerequisite to teaching others.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

Excellent book!
I think this book is very helpful and well written.It also comes with a CD with mindfulness exercises.Excellent book!

MBCBT for Depression
Was really happy with this product. It arrived in excellent condition and very quickly to my address in Australia. Much quicker than other purchases I have made via Amazon. Thanks very much.

Excellent book for clinicians
The authors of this book have devised one of the best strategies for countering bouts of serious depression. Indeed, mindfulness-based therapies have become a hot topic in the field of psychology, and for good reason. The evidence shows that when simple forms of meditation, relaxation, nonjudgmental observation, and acceptance are added to traditional therapies, the results are longer-lasting, and our own research at the University of Pennsylvania supports this (see Newberg and Waldman's forthcoming book, How God Changes Your Brain: Breakthrough Findings from a Leading Neuroscientist. Taking up a mindfulness practice reduces a patient's need to return to therapy, and the more serious the problem, the more effective this strategy becomes. For the general reader, I recommend The Mindful Way through Depression: Freeing Yourself fromChronic Unhappinesswhich comes with a CD filled with relaxation and meditation exercises.

Good for the clinician, not the help-your-selfer
Four starts for the clinician, two for the help-your-selfer. I felt that this book was well written; clinical, yet readable. This is a great book for the clinician or the clinician-in-training to give them a good overview. After reading this, the clinician would be ready to be trained in the techniques described in the book. This book does not give any practical skills, it describes the historical background for depression and MBCT and outlines the research that the authors conducted and the training they received.

Because it has no real practical skills (no how-to), it is a poor choice for anyone that wants to learn how to do this stuff on your own-DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY! Jon Kabat-zinn has a book on the same subject that IS a how-to and I would recommend that you look there, particularly since these guys received all of their training in the subject from him and his program; you might as well get it from the original source of the process (OK so Buddha was the REAL first, but JKZ has made it a simpler program and tied it to depression).

Cognitive Therapist Essential
This book is an excellent exposition of Segal, Williams, and Teasdale's therapy using a combination of Meditation, Yoga, and Cognitive Therapy.
It very generously shares their program and patient homework notes and would give any therapist the basis for development of their own program. ... Read more