We often compare the psychiatric symptomdepression
or depressed mood to sadness or grief in response to a loss, but
one of the essential features is loss of interest in life activities. The term is
used interchangeably to refer to a mental disorder or to a
mood state or symptom.
Danqua, Meri Nana-Ama Willow Weep for Me
- A Black Woman's Journey Through Depression - A Memoir Hardcover 1998 Meri
Nana-Ama Danqua, the author, is a native of Ghana. She has written a powerful memoir of
her struggle to understand and overcome clinical depression. What makes her journey so
compelling is her relentless pursuit of what it means to be black, female and struggling
with depression in a society that makes it difficult for black women to be recognized as
vulnerable and emotionally complex. She describes, with remarkable honesty and an artist's
sensibilities, what it feels like to be depressed. Willow Weep for Me
illustrates how clinical depression is different for black women. From the difficulty of
recognition of its symptoms, to finding therapists capable of relating to a black patient,
to coping with the stigma of being viewed as weak, Ms Danqua alerts women who suffer in
silence to the fact that depression is an illness they can recognize and fight. This book
not only provides insight to anyone interested in how race and gender affect a person's
treatment and recovery, but the courage found in the discovery of the resources needed to
regain one's life. This meditation on survival will help pave the way for others to seek
the treatment and support they need to overcome the stigma and alienation of clinical
depression. Review by Barbara Grubel, W/AMI
Falling AngelsDVD Mark McKinney,
Miranda Richardson, Callum Keith Rennie 2005
Karp, David A. Speaking of Sadness - Depression, Disconnection, and the Meaning of IllnessHardcover
1996 | Paperback
1997
Lonesome JimDVD
Casey Affleck, Kevin Corrigan, Mary Kay Place, and
Seymour Cassel 2005
Manning PhD, Martha Undercurrents - A
Life Beneath the Surface 1996 Written from the author's own experience with
depression, this book uses a narrative mode and reads as if you were "peeking into
her diary." Her accounts of the descent into, and rise from depression, are honest,
humorous and hopeful. Manning is a clinical psychologist
and former professor of psychology at George
Mason University. Reviewed by Susan Cleva, W/AMI
O'Connor, Richard Undoing
Depression - What Therapy Doesn't Teach You and Medication Can't Give YouPaperback 1999
| Hardcover
1997
Papolos, Janice and Dimitri Overcoming
Depression Paperback 1997 Everything you want to know about depression is in this
well organized book. Includes descriptions of the disease, up-to-date treatment, research
and more. Reviewed by Susan Cleva, W/AMI
A Skin Too Few: The Days of Nick Drake DVD Dir.
Jeroen Berkvens 2000
Styron, William Darkness Visible -
A Memoir of Madness Paperback 1992 A first-hand account of the author's
desolating descent into depression. Mr. Styron writes, "the agony and horror of my
ordeal is so overwhelming as to be quite beyond expression." Depression is an illness
that affects millions, but is still widely misunderstood. This book should help educate us
all. Reviewed by Susan Cleva, W/AMI
Paperback 2005