My Mum Has Depression

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My Mum Has Depression

by Nina Mitchell

My Mother Has Depression is a beautifully illustrated book that explains depression in simple words and pictures suitable for children of all ages. Nina wrote this book as a result of her personal experience to provide a tool to adults so they can start the conversation with children. It would be an excellent resource for families, teachers, school guidance officers, public libraries, social workers, community aid centres, etc.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Hi. My name is Nina Mitchell. I am the mother of three boys, a qualified primary school teacher and now a first-time author. I have also suffered from depression for several years.
While being treated for depression, I have found it challenging to explain to my sons the highs and lows of this illness and what it means to them. My association with fellow sufferers has led me to the conclusion that like me, most adults also have difficulty explaining what depression is to their children.
My answer was to write and self-publish my picture book, My Mother Has Depression. It explains depression in simple words and pictures suitable for children of all ages. The purpose of my book is to provide a tool to adults so they can start the conversation with children. The purpose of the exercise is not to make lots of money but to offer a service to others with a similar affliction.

The more people recognize what depression is, the more they will hopefully try to understand the condition. Explaining it to our offspring is a good start.

HOW TO BUY

Nina self-published this fabulous book and you can buy it from her websitehttp://www.nutsaboutnina.com.au/buy-now.html (scroll down the page on Nina’s website to see the link to buy)

Back From The Brink Too

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Back From The Brink Too

by Graeme Cowan

 

Family members of people with mental illness play an enormous role in providing care and support for people living with depression, as well as other forms of mental illness.

Back From The Brink Too provides much-needed practical guidance for family carers and raise awareness of the key role they play in helping to manage mental illness, but it also works to reduce the isolation many families experience.

It wasn’t until Graeme recovered from his own depression did he come to understand the tremendous toll that the illness caused his family.

This book details discussions with well-known and everyday Australians about their personal journey of enduring and overcoming clinical depression. Graeme asks the tough and poignant questions of each interviewee, offering insights into their often dark and tumultuous experience. The stories are honest, first-hand accounts from people like Petria Thomas, John Konrads, Geoff Gallop, Les Murray and Margaret Olley and offers inspiration and hope for sufferers and their friends and family that there can truly be a day when loved ones come a back from the brink. The interviews are written in a Q and A format and are supplemented by the results of a 3000-person survey, resources from multiple organisations and research from the Black Dog Institute.

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR – GRAEME COWAN

Graeme has had a reasonably successful business career, most recently as a corporate head hunter. He is divorced and have two children. He has had five major episodes of depression since I was 21. The last episode was by far the worst and lasted five years.

During that time he went through an extraordinarily difficult period which resulted in 4 hospitalisations and a suicide attempt. He tried 23 different medications, underwent ECT (shock treatment) on 19 occasions, tried Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, been coached in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and participated in many other programs related to the treatment of clinical depression. Since October 2005 he has gradually been climbing out of the fog

Graeme lives in Gordon, NSW and has been a strong supporter of our dNet. He has spoken to many ‘dNetters’ in researching for his book, including depressioNet Founder, Leanne Pethick.

 

HOW TO BUY

To purchase this book and or find out more about the author please visit Graeme Cowan’s website:I am Back from the Brink

Publisher: Bird In Hand Media

ISBN: 0980339316

The Broken Mirror

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The Broken Mirror – Understanding & Treating Body Dysmorphic Disorder

By Katherine A Phillip

People who have BDD not only dislike some aspect of how they look, they’re preoccupied with it. When BDD is severe, friendships, intimate relationships and work disintegrate. It affects 2% of the US population. Left untreated, it can lead to hospitalization and sometimes suicide. Katherine Phillips draws on years of clinical practice and detailed interviews with patients to write the first book on body dysmorphic disorder. She describes what is known about the disorder, what patients experience, what researches have learned about it, and what treatments seem helpful.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR, KATHERINE A PHILLIP

Phillips (psychiatry, Brown U. School of Medicine) makes a convincing case for taking a second look by drawing on years of clinical practice, research, and patient interviews. The evidence demonstrates that the obsession often causes sufferers to attempt suicide or become house bound and can be linked to eating disorders and depression. Suggesting new treatment methods (therapy, Prozac) and methods of assessing BDD, Phillips legitimizes a serious malady that many sufferers keep secret.

Dr. Phillips draws on years of clinical practice and detailed interviews with more than 200 patients to bring readers the first book on body dysmorphic disorder, or BDD, in which sufferers are obsessed by perceived flaws in their appearance.

HOW TO BUY?

You can purchase The Broken Mirror – Understanding and Treating Body Dismorphic Disorder ‘ from http://www.fishpond.com.au

(It is also available from all major bookshops in Australia.)

Published by: Oxford University Press Inc

ISBN: 0195121260

BOOK REVIEWS

“Dr. Phillips’ book is a landmark in the recognition and treatment of imagined uglyness. This book. beautifully written, provides a great deal of hope for patients with body dysmorphic disorder and their family members and should help speed recovery for countless sufferers of this common, fascinating, and disabling illness.”

Eric Hollander MD, Professor of Psychiatry, USA

ECT – An Australasian Guide

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ELECTROCONVULSIVE THERAPY (ECT)

– An Australasian Guide

by J.W.G Tiller and R.W Lyndon

 

Misinformation about ECT has contributed to the fear and other negative attitudes towards treatment, in stark contrast to the views expressed by those who have benefited.

Electroconvulsive Therapy: an Australasian Guide brings together relevant information about ECT that will be of great value to both healthcare providers and to those whose lives are affected by severe mental illness. Doctors need to be aware of the developments in the administration and monitoring of ECT.

Patients and their families are often searching for both detailed and accurate information on ECT so that they can make more informed choices.

This not-for-profit publication was developed by a group of clinicians expert in ECT. It fills a void by providing current factual information on this effective psychiatric treatment.

Includes:

  • Advice for patients and their families
  • Developments in treatment
  • ECT in the elderly and adolescents
  • Benefits and adverse events with ECT
  • Nurses’, anaesthetists’ and psychiatrists’ roles
  • Monitoring treatment including EEG monitoring
  • Pre- and post-ECT patient management
  • A consensus statement on ECT administration

A must-have book, for all ECT services, psychiatric hospitals, community mental health clinics, and for patients and their families.

About the Editors, J.W.G Tiller and R.W. Lyndon

Professor JWG (John) Tiller is Professor of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne and Director of ECT at Albert Road Clinic. He is a respected clinician, academic, teacher, and researcher with a particular interest in the treatment of serious mental illnesses including severe depression. He has made a long-standing contribution to the community mental health movement and patient education, and coordinates the Victorian ECT training program.

Dr RW (Bob) Lyndon is Chairman, Committee for Psychotropic Drugs and Other Physical Treatments, The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, and Clinical Lecturer in Psychiatry, University of Sydney. He has been instrumental in establishing ECT training in New South Wales, in improving standards of practice and clinical outcomes with ECT, and in developing the RANZCP clinical memorandum on ECT.

How to Buy?

This book is currently only available from the Victorian Medical Postgraduate Foundation (VMPF)

Dealing With Depression

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Dealing With Depression

By
Gordon Parker

Most of us get ‘the blues’ at some point in our lives, and some people find that they just can’t shake them. How can you tell when you or someone you know is suffering from depression that needs clinical treatment? How can you find the best treatment for your depression?

Dealing with Depression is a brief, user-friendly guide to depression and mood disorders for sufferers, their families, and health professionals who care for them. Professor Parker explains that contrary to popular belief, there are many different types of depression, each benefiting from differing treatments.

Since it was first published, Dealing with Depression has been widely used by both general readers and health professionals. This second edition contains new information on bipolar disorders and the influence of personality styles on non-melancholic disorders. It has been updated throughout to reflect recent research.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR GORDON PARKER

Gordon Parker AO is a leading international expert on depression and mood disorders. He is Scientia Professor of Psychiatry at the University of New South Wales, and Executive Director of the Black Dog Institute (incorporating the former Mood Disorders Unit) at the Prince of Wales Hospital in Sydney

Gordon was an inaugural Patron of depressioNet and remains a Patron for our new dNet. He is passionate about finding solutions to the challenges of treating depressive illnesses and importantly, maintains a private consulting practice as he understands the need to always remain connected to the individual when conducting reseach on larger populations. A wonderful man we are proud to have supporting us!

HOW TO BUY?

It is available from most major bookshops in Australia.

Published by: Allen & Unwin

ISBN: 978-1-4114214-3

BOOK REVIEWS

‘This unique book, written by one of the world’s leading authorities on depression, focuses on a way of thinking about the complexity and diversity of the mood disorders that is both easy to understand and rings’ true. Well-written and thought provoking, it is essential reading for all whose lives are affected by depression.’

– Michael Thase, Professor of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh

‘Everyone with an interest in depression care should read this unique, sensible and innovative approach developed for many years of experience working with depressed people. It is essential reading for sufferers, their carers and professionals.’

– Professor Andre Tylee, Institute of Psychiatry, London

Compassion And Self Hate

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Compassion And Self Hate

By Theodore Rubin

Free yourself from destructive behavior

Many of us know that self-destructive patterns are rooted in self-dislike, but few of us understand how to break them. In this wise and compassionate book, bestselling author and eminent psychiatrist Theodore Rubin shows us realistic ways to break these negative mental and emotional attitudes and build a strong sense of well-being and self-understanding.

Dr. Rubin looks of how self-hate begins, is sustained, and eventually leads to destructive and defeating behavior — from alcoholism and drug dependency to perfectionism and fear of failure (or success). Offering practical and reassuring advice, he shows that the key to freeing yourself from these restricting emotions and habits is to find and examine the self-hate that generates them, and then to release your innate and powerful capacity for compassion.

This warm, sympathetic, and ultimately practical guide to personal growth and fulfillment is timelier and more helpful than ever.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR, THEODORE RUBIN

Theodore Isaac Rubin, M.D., has served as president of the American Institute of Psychoanalysis and is the author of thirty books, including The Angry Book, Lisa and David, Jordi, The Winner’s Notebook, and Lisa and David Today. His books have been translated all over the world. He lives and practices psychiatry in New York City.

HOW TO BUY

You can purchase Compassion and Self Hate from http://www.fishpond.com.au

(It is also available from all major bookshops in Australia.)

Published by: Prentice Hall & IBD

ISBN: 0684841991

BOOK REVIEWS

It was like magic that so much of what Dr. Rubin writes in Compassion and Self-Hate hit home with me. I can only say he set me free–from my past, myself and my life as it was. The book enabled me to embrace what life could be, but further influenced how I dealt with the children in my life so they would not be the afraid, nonfunctioning person I had been.

Change Your Thinking

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Change Your Thinking

by Sarah Endelman

All of us experience complicated thoughts and feelings as we negotiate the day, and these feelings can be difficult to manage. Sometimes we are aware that the way we think contributes to our difficulties, but don’t know what to do about it.

‘Change Your Thinking’ demonstrates how we tend to respond to stressful events with self-defeating thoughts and behaviours. It explains how it is within our ability to interrupt and challenge these patterns and change habitual responses. Learning to recognise when negative perceptions contribute to stressful situations and how to dispute these thoughts can lead to much greater personal contentment and a sense of control.

The methods outlined in ‘Change Your Thinking’ are based on the principles of cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT), the standard psychological technique used by therapists. It brings these principles within the grasp of the non-specialist and shows how to apply them to deal with such difficult emotions as anger, depression, anxiety and guilt.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR, SARAH ENDELMAN

Sarah Endelman is a registered psychologist and trainer who taught adults how to use CBT for 10 years. She is a research psychologist at the University of Technology, Sydney and has a private practice.

HOW TO BUY?

You can purchase ‘Change Your Thinking’ online from the ABC Shop.

Published by: ABC Books

ISBN: 0-7333-1018-4

When Angels Cry

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When Angels Cry

By David O’Neill

Tells the story of one man’s descent into a living hell and nightmare that was initially triggered by his discovery that his father had been sexually abusing his daughter. The book then follows his nightmare through to some sort of recovery after years of torment for his daughter, family and himself.

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR, DAVID O’NEILL

David was forty-two years of age when his book was published. After a lengthy career in sales and marketing management the events depicted in When Angels Crybrought about a major shift in his priorities and he has worked in community services (mental health) for the past ten years.

When their daughter was just four years of age David and his wife became aware that his own father was molesting her. This led to the discovery of other young victims in his father’s past and so began a decade of torment involving police investigations, court cases and ongoing intra-familial difficulties. It also began David’s own decades-long battle with manic depression (bipolar disorder).

 

HOW TO BUY?

You can purchase When Angels Cry ‘ from Amazon

(It is also available from http://www.whenangelscry.com.au/homepage.php

Published by: Addicted To Ink

ISBN: 0646404024

BOOK REVIEWS

“When Angels Cry is a rare and masterful insight into one of society’s darkest subjects. David’s moving and superbly readable true story is so fast-paced and well-crafted, I devoured it from cover to cover in one sitting” – David Crookes

Tracking The Black Dog

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Tracking The Black Dog

Edited By
Kerrie Eyers 2006

Tracking the Black Dog is the product of Black Dog Institute’s inaugural Writing Competition – drawing from highlights of the hundreds of entries.

The compilation weaves its way from ancient Greece, Rome, Mesopotamia and Egypt to modern times via mediaeval witchcraft, devils and superstition, the Renaissance, and Victorian rationalism. Comical, poignant and learned, these excerpts range from Anubis and faithful Argos, beautiful early myths and legends, through werewolves to darker medieval superstitions, witch hunts, alchemy, astrology and Knights errant, touch on Boswell and Johnson and arrive at mesmerism and ouija boards of Victorian times.

Churchill’s courage in the face of his illness, and references to black dog from our own times are also uncovered, links in a chain stretching back to our forebears. All served with a dollop of black humour.

The result is a lovely tapestry bringing together historical, literary, folkloric, psychological and linguistic threads to build a societal picture of depression.

Anyone who has ever experienced depression, or who wants to know more about this illness, will find the black dog’s trail through history a fascinating read.

ABOUT THE EDITOR, KERRIE EYERS

Kerrie Eyers MA (Psych), DipEd, MPH, MAPS is a psychologist, teacher and editor with many years’ experience in mental health, based at the Black Dog Institute, Sydney.

Gordon Parker and Kerrie Eyers are co-editors of Journeys with the Black Dog and Mastering Bipolar Disorder.

HOW TO BUY?

You can purchase ‘Tracking the Black Dog’ online from the UNSW Book Shop.

Published by: UNSW Press

ISBN: 0-82840-812-3

BOOK REVIEWS

What’s in a name you might ask? Well nothing and everything.

It’s nothing if you don’t live up to the name, and everything when it has resonance.

And for those who have experienced the dark fog of depression, the Black Dog certainly has meaning and that’s what this book conveys with humour and empathy.

– Dr Norman Swan, Host, ‘The Health Report’, ABC Radio National

Swimming Against The Tide

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Swimming Against The Tide

– Petria Thomas

by Andy Shea

A truly inspirational story of courage and determination. Swimming champ Petria Thomas opens her heart about overcoming debilitating physical setbacks as well as severe depression in her quest for Olympic gold.

About Petria Thomas

Petria Thomas won the hearts of millions around the world with her triple-gold-medal-winning triumph at the Athens Olympic Games in 2004.

Having overcome the pain and anguish of three shoulder reconstructions and two ankle reconstructions over the length of her glittering 12-year career, Petria is admired and respected for her grit, determination and steely will to win.

But there’s more to the Queen of Butterfly than meets the eye, and here for the first time is the full and authorised story of Australian swimming’s golden girl: her battle against severe depression, her cries for help that almost ended her life, and the extraordinary determination that overcame these physical and emotional pressures to reach the pinnacle of her career.

How to Buy?

This book is available online from fishpond.com.au Books and can be purchased there new or used.

ISBN: 0-7333-1590-9

Book Review

The following book review is by Janine Crosswhite on the Australian Women’s Sport & Recreation website.

I found this on the library bookmobile and thoroughly enjoyed reading it. I thought I knew a fair bit about Petria but this book discloses her battle with depression and how bad it really was. I also did not know that she was the first swimmer to return to elite competition from a shoulder restoration and she did this twice, plus had an ankle reconstruction, before she won her three gold medals at the 2004 Athens Olympics. This is a story of determination, courage and dreams and also a love story with Julian Jones, her husband and weight trainer at the AIS. Very suitable for school libraries and/or for athletes trying to overcome injuries or setbacks.