Over the years, I have seen many men with horrible depression, and one of the ways I have tried to augment the psychotherapy I do with them is to suggest books that may be helpful. The problem I have encountered is NOT that there is a lack of good books on depression, but rather that I can’t get my patients to read them.
For example, to the right of my office chair, there is a large book case in which I keep copies of treatments books on depression. Often, however, when I am working with a depressed man, I will reach for a copy of one of these books and hand it to my patient. But...here is the problem: Time and again, just as I am handing him the book, the patient will look at the size of it, grimace, and then shrink back into the couch. The problem is that those books are simply too big and too comprehensive.
That may sound silly at first, but from a severely depressed patient’s perspective he knows there is just no way he is going to be able to read it. Given that one of the primary symptoms of severe depression is impaired concentration, as well as lack of motivation, it's hard to blame him. How To Stop Feeling So Damn Depressed has been specifically written for men who are feeling absolutely awful. The book utilizes dozens of original illustrations and language that speaks directly to the experience of men who are barely hanging on.
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