Abstract
Depression and Bipolar Disorder: Your Guide to Recovery is a welcome addition to the self-help arsenal for mood disorders. Most self-help guides typically focus on either major depression or bipolar disorder, forcing individuals who may not fully understand their differences to choose one or the other. This book adopts an integrative approach that is relevant and accessible to consumers seeking answers to questions about a range of mood symptoms.
The book is evidence based, comprehensive, and centered on 3 main themes: the importance of a correct diagnosis, the availability of evidence-based interventions, and overcoming barriers to adequate treatment. The book is primarily an informational guide; readers should not expect much information on skills or techniques (eg, assertiveness, cognitive restructuring) for symptom management. Chapters are not only organized in a logical progression, but are also written so that they can each be read on their own. Unlike several self-help guides that reserve the topic of suicide as a “special consideration” for a later chapter or appendix, crisis management is addressed up front in chapter 1, highlighting the importance of this topic for readers.
Despite these strengths, one reservation relates to the chapter regarding “Facts and Causes” of mood disorders. This chapter is organized around a dichotomy between “biological” and “psychological” explanations that may propagate the idea that these models are somehow mutually exclusive. The level of detail regarding some of the biological data (eg, references to cortical midline structures and default mode networks) perhaps betrays the author’s background in neuroimaging research and may leave readers more confused than reassured. Yet with that one caveat, this guide is an informative, up-to-date resource for anyone who is interested in learning more about mood disorders and their many presentations.