Transcending Depression: Quest Without a Compass - Softcover

Godwin, Larry B

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0578694913 ISBN 13: 9780578694917

Publisher: Larry Godwin, 2020

Synopsis

Are you or a loved one depressed?

My book can help. I’ve been there and have struggled with suicidal thoughts and plans. I can share with you what I did to not only survive, but to tolerate depression, live with it, and function acceptably most of the time, interspersed with periods of contentment, happiness, and joy. My strategies may well work for you.

My goal is to save lives. The primary motivation for presenting my history is to encourage others who grapple with either chronic depression or occasional bouts. I hope my journey resonates with some, validates feelings, and sparks the thoughts “I'm not alone” and “I will feel better.” This book can also help family members and friends of the mentally ill, and their caregivers, find compassion and enable them to understand the struggle.

Transcending Depression differs from many other books on the topic in that it is not grounded in clinical experience, scientific research, or empirical evidence, which may make it more approachable than some. It’s not a how-to book, not a model for depressed people to follow, not a toolbox. On the contrary, it shows rather than tells the reader what he or she might do to feel better.

Appendices include my Depression Survival Guide, which offers 36 suggestions to bring relief, and Chess in the Labyrinth, a metaphor that compares defeating depression to winning a chess game.

About this title

About the Author

I struggled with depression for 49 years.  Since 2015, my writing has centered on assisting others who grapple with mental illness and on erasing the stigma society attaches to it. My articles have appeared on the websites of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, and the Canadian Mental Health Association.  The Awakenings Review and The Journal of Outsider Poetry have published my poems concerning depression. I've written two self-help books: Transcending Depression: Quest Without a Compass and Surviving Our Parents' Mistakes: Healing the Scars from Childhood Mistreatment.  I belong to the NAMI chapter in Missoula, Montana, where my wife, Cathy, and I live. Visit my website at larry-godwin.com.  

From the Back Cover

Transcending Depression is one man's personal narrative that chronicles his mental illness over a span of 49 years. In concise entries from his journals, the author narrates his story, hoping to encourage others who grapple with either chronic depression or occasional bouts. Godwin's book provides an unguarded window into his experience, with refreshing, brutal honesty and sincerity. The style comprises a blend of the narrative, the emotional, and the quasi-scien­tific. His message is uplifting without being sentimental. This book can help family members and friends of the mentally ill find compassion and enable them to understand the struggle. His goal is to save lives.

Edition details

• Publisher: Larry Godwin
• Publication date: 2020
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0578694913
• ISBN 13: 9780578694917
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 161