When Someone You Love is Depressed: How to Help Your Loved One Without Losing Yourself - Softcover

Laura Epstein Rosen; Xavier Francisco Amador

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0684834073 ISBN 13: 9780684834078

Publisher: Fireside, 1997

Synopsis

Many books have been written for those suffering from depression, but what if you're suffering becuase someone you love is depressed? Research shows that if you are close to a depressed person, you are at a much higher risk of developing problems yourself, including anxiety, phobias, and even a kind of contagious depression.
In this authoritative and compassionate book, psychologists Laura Epstein Rosen and Cavier Francisco Amador explain the mechanisms of depression that can cause communication breakdown, increase hostility, and ultimately destroy relationships. Through compelling real-life stories and step-by-step advice, the authors teach concrete methods that you and your loved one can use to protect yourselves and your relationship from depression's impact. Drawing on their own innovative research, the give sensitive guidance about how to recognize your needs, how to provide the best kind of support, and how to encourage the depressed person to seek treatment. Whether you are the partner, parent, friend, or child of a depressed person, you'll find this book and invaluable companion in you journey back to health.

About this title

From the Publisher:

Praise for
When Someone You Love Is Depressed:

"Insidious and, in its fashion, communicable, depression is an ailment of underappreciated destructive power. Doctors Rosen and Amador perform a valuable service by posing the important question: How do you cope with depression when it intrudes on an intimate relationship? Their answers contain practical wisdom that will allow readers to make concrete decisions affecting their own well-being and that of someone they love."
-- Peter Kramer, author of Listening to Prozac

"This is the first book to detail the effect of depression on relationships and to offer concrete, clear advice on how to help a depressed person. It is a remarkably balanced, well-written, and encouraging piece of work that will undoubtedly help millions of people and become an invaluable resource."
-- Jack M. Gorman, M.D., author of The Essential Guide to Psychiatric Drugs and The New Psychiatry

Although numerous books have been written for those suffering from depression, until now none of them has addressed the "secondary" victims of this debilitating disease: the loved ones of the depressed. If someone you love is depressed, you undoubtedly recognize that the depression has placed some new burdens on you; however you may be affected in more ways than you realize. Research shows that if you are close to a depressed person, you are at a much higher risk of developing problems yourself, including anxiety, phobias, and even a kind of contagious depression. Yet, too often, those of us who care about a depressed person are so focused on their needs that we don't realize that we might need help. There is startling evidence that marriages in which one person is depressed are nine times more likely to end in divorce; that children with a depressed parent are at an increased risk for a range of adjustment difficulties; and that if you are caring for an elderly depressed parent, your physical and mental health are likely to suffer.

Depression is also notorious for causing increased misunderstandings and sexual problems in intimate relationships. Laura Rosen and Xavier Amador, psychologists with expertise in treating the secondary victims of depression, explain the mechanisms of depression that can cause communication breakdown, increase hostility, and ultimately destroy relationships. Rather than just explaining these secondary effects of depression, the authors teach you concrete methods that you and your loved one can use to protect yourselves and your relationship from depression's impact.

Through compelling real life stories and step-by-step advice, Rosen and Amador show how you can express your feelings and get your needs met while strengthening your relationship; how you can provide the kind of support that is most helpful in recovery from depression; and how you can encourage the depressed person to seek treatment. Drawing on their own innovative research, the authors give sensitive advice about how to recognize your needs, and how to find the best help for yourself and your loved one. Whether you are the partner, parent, friend, or child of a depressed person, you'll find this book an invaluable companion in your journey back to health.END

From the Author:

Xavier Amador, Ph.D., the coauthor of When Someone You Love Is Depressed and the psychology and health contributor for NBC's weekend Today show, is Director of the Diagnoses and Evaluation Center at Columbia University and the New York State Psychiatric Institute.

Laura Epstein Rosen, Ph.D., is Supervisor of Family Therapy Training at the Special Needs Clinic of Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New York.

About this edition

• Publisher: Fireside
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0684834073
• ISBN 13: 9780684834078
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 262