You don't have to live with depression.

Everyone faces bad times and difficult situations. Why doesn't everyone getdepressed? Are there specific skills that you can develop that will protect youfrom depression and even prevent future episodes? The answer is yes. You canbreak the patterns of depression with the new perspectives and skills containedhere.

Dr. Yapko contradicts the widely held belief that depression is a disease besttreated with medication or extensive psychotherapy. Successful and reliabletreatments for depression have been developed, and they provide a legitimatebasis for claiming that the majority of depression sufferers can be helped. In "Breaking the Patterns of Depression," Dr. Yapko brings both twenty yearsof experience as a clinician and the most effective treatmentmethods--previously published only in professional circles--directly to thedepression sufferer.

Depression is complex. The path to recovery can be created by learning to thinkrealistically about depression and how it affects you and why, and by activelyhoning the skills to change the thoughts, feelings, and behavior that adverselyaffect you. This book isn't "emotional popcorn." It's a serious guide tobecoming and remaining depression-free.

Have you ever felt so depressed that you had trouble concentrating on your job, talking with your family, even getting out of bed? Twenty to thirty millionAmericans suffer from some form of diagnosable depression, and their ranks aregrowing. Psychologist Michael D. Yapko explains that in order to find relief, more than the current episode of depression must be examined. In "Breakingthe Patterns of Depression," he presents skills that will help youunderstand andultimately avert depression's recurring cycles. Focusing onfuture prevention as well as initial treatment, the book includes over onehundred activities to help you learn the skills necessary for becoming andremaining depression-free.

"Breaking the Patterns of Depression" begins by translating the clinicalliterature on psychotherapy and antidepressant medication into language you canuse to enhance your understanding of depression and to personalize your cure.Using a conversational, anecdotal approach, Dr. Yapko encourages you to take anactive and experiential approach to helping yourself. Special activity sectionsentitled "Learn by Doing" and "Shifting Perspectives" help you to develop theskills necessary to manage difficult experiences. In this way, you will learnhow to solve problems effectively, anticipate the likely consequences of youractions, think and act in a direct and goal-oriented fashion, balance differentareas of your life, and use self-knowledge to stay out of hurtfulsituations.

Realistic and enormously helpful, "Breaking the Patterns of Depression" allows you to recognize your triggers for depression and, best of all, toclarify what you can do about them. With this knowledge in hand, you cancontrol your depression rather than having your depression control you.

Michael D. Yapko, Ph.D. is the author of seven previous books on brief, directive psychotherapy. He is a clinical psychologist in private practice inSolana Beach, California, and is known nationally and internationally for hiswork on treating depression with active, brief therapy methods. Acknowledginghis expertise, the Encyclopaedia Britannica commissioned Dr. Yapko to writesections on depression, clinicalhypnosis, and the repressed memory controversyfor their medical and health annuals. Dr. Yapko and his wife, Diane, enjoytraveling and hiking in their spare time.

"If depression has you in its grip, if your spirits need lifting, iftomorrow holds no promise of a better day, don't waste another minute: there'san antidote to feeling lousy and it's this book, "Breaking the Patterns ofDepression." Michael Yapko will help you unravel the mystery of depressionand, more important, he will show you what you can do today to feel betterimmediately."
--Michele Weiner Davis, author of "Change Your Life and Everyone in it" and" Divorce Busting"

"Dr. Yapko has brought this book to all of us who battle the enemy of joy andpeace--depression. And it is a wonderful guide. In it, he will teach you, as hehas taught me, how to understand depression and how to defeat it. He will teachyou how to look at yourself, the world, and the future in a new way. He willteach you that you can have a peaceful and meaningful life, and he will teachyou how to do that."
--Dr. Lynn D. Johnson, Ph.D., director of the Brief Therapy Center, Salt LakeCity, Utah, and author of "Psychotherapy in the Age of Accountability"

Reviews

In this carefully constructed self-help guide for those with mild to moderate depression, a clinical psychologist and family therapist in Southern California offers specific strategies for changing a negative, self-defeating attitude to an optimistic, hopeful view. Yapko sees depression not as a disease that must be treated with medicine but as a problem that can often be dealt with by learning to change existing patterns of thinking, feeling and behavior. Rather than dwelling on the patient's past experiences, he focuses on changing the present and thus shaping the future with a combination of cognitive, behavioral and interpersonal therapies. Discussions of case studies lead to "Pause and Reflect" exercises, which are augmented by "Learn by Doing" practices that require performance of some action. Yapko provides helpful summaries at the end of each chapter. His prose is clear and has a refreshingly low psychobabble quotient, and the tone is upbeat. A concluding chapter offers guidance on when and how to obtain professional help. (Feb.)

"If depression has you in its grip, if your spirits need lifting, if tomorrow holds no promise of a better day, don't waste another minute: there's an antidote to feeling lousy and it's this book, "Breaking the Patterns of Depression," Michael Yapko will help you unravel the mystery of depression and, more important, he will show you what you can do today to feel better immediately."
--Michele Weiner Davis, author of "Change Your Life and Everyone in it" and" Divorce Busting"
"Dr. Yapko has brought this book to all of us who battle the enemy of joy and peace--depression. And it is a wonderful guide. In it, he will teach you, as he has taught me, how to understand depression and how to defeat it. He will teach you how to look at yourself, the world, and the future in a new way. He will teach you that you can have a peaceful and meaningful life, and he will teach you how to do that."
--Dr. Lynn D. Johnson, Ph.D., director of the Brief Therapy Center, Salt Lake City, Utah, and author of "Psychotherapy in the Age of Accountability"

"From the Hardcover edition."

The rate of depression has increased by nearly tenfold in those born in the years following World War II, making it the most common psychological problem in America. Depression expert Yapko presents a book that will help put depression in perspective and equip sufferers with the skills and knowledge to heal themselves of this modern plague. The first part of the book is devoted to discussing the clinical literature on psychotherapy and antidepressant medication. Here, the causes of depression, its diagnosis, and its treatment are explained in language easily understood by the lay reader. The second part is devoted to explaining the patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving that signal depression. Yapko effectively uses case histories as well as more than 100 exercises to assist the reader in building the skills needed to manage depression. While there are many other titles on depression management, this book is a break from the widely held view that depression is mainly a biochemically based disease treatable with medication. It should serve to complement such books as Colette Dowling's You Mean I Don't Have To Feel This Way? (LJ 1/92) or Sandra Salman's Depression: Questions You Have...Answers You Need (LJ 2/1/95), which focus more on using drugs as a treatment for depression. An excellent book; recommended for all collections.‘Dana L. Brumbelow, Auburn P.L., Ala.