Hand-Me-Down Blues : How to Stop Depression from Spreading in Families - Hardcover

Yapko, Ph.D. Michael D.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 158238021X ISBN 13: 9781582380216

Publisher: Golden Books Adult Publishing, 1999

Synopsis

A powerful, family-based approach to understanding and treating depression that goes way beyond Prozac.

Many people have been led to believe that depression is caused simply by a chemical imbalance in the brain, and as a result they look to science for convenient answers, hoping that "a capsule a day will keep depression away." Unfortunately, this narrow focus on biology and the use of medications has often led people to overlook other important influences, such as how our family can affect emotional health in powerful ways.

In Hand-Me-Down Blues, Dr. Michael Yapko carefully describes how the family can play a crucial role in the development of and recovery from depression. Parents introduce their children to various life experiences and inevitably reveal their own values, perspectives, and biases. Children typically learn to interpret life events in the same way their parents do, and their interpretations can be a basis for depression. Once depression strikes, it distorts family relationships, splintering families as it spreads from one person to another like a virus. Thus, children can "inherit" depression less from their parents' genes and more from their parents' attitudes and behaviors. Consider, for example, how the behavior of an emotionally inexpressive parent can affect a child who is hungry for eye contact, a smile, a hug and a kiss. The family that does not know its own power to hurt or heal its members is a family at risk for becoming overwhelmed and, yes, depressed.

Hand-Me-Down Blues describes the family as a powerful agent not only in the development of depression but also in its resolution. Without blame, the book shows how families can deal effectively with depression, armed with much more than a prescription. Part I describes the nature of depression, including both its biological and social origins, and introduces you to a family systems perspective-- how depression can be a reflection of what's going on in a family. Part II covers how you can acquire depression from your family, bring this negative influence unintentionally into your marriage, and unconsciously pass it along to your children. Part III offers specific methods to help diminish depression's influence on your family, including being responsible to others, building family rituals, and developing realistic expectations. Dr. Yapko's solutions show you that you are not a victim and have more power than you may realize to change unhealthy situations and other people's responses to them.

Did you learn depression from your family? Maybe. But this is one family legacy you don't have to carry on. Hand-Me-Down Blues shows how learning effective problem-solving and relationship skills can reduce and even prevent depression-- something no medication can ever do.

About this title

About the Author

Michael D. Yapko, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist and marriage and family therapist in private practice who lectures worldwide on the subject of depression. He is the author of five previous books and dozens of articles in which he describes active, skill-building interventions as vital to effective treatment of depression, including the authoritative section in the Encyclopedia Britannica's Medical and Health Annual. He is a member of the American Psychological Association and the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy and a Fellow of both the Royal Society of Medicine in England and the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis. He lives with his wife near San Diego, California.

Reviews

Mental health practitioners have long observed that depression runs in families. Clinical psychologist Yapko (Breaking the Patterns of Depression, LJ 6/1/97) discusses the interrelationship of depression, parenting styles, and family dynamics, contending that inherited depression cannot be solely explained in terms of genetic inheritance or biochemical imbalance. Social and behavioral factors play a major role; parents transmit dysfunctional patterns of perception and thinking to their children, who in turn continue negative attitudes and behaviors and unwittingly pass these on to their own children. Through clear explanations and case studies, Yapko illustrates that how families deal with life experiences can either predispose members to depression or insulate them from it. Yapko describes communication, problem solving, and critical thinking skills that individuals and families can learn and use to create healthy relationships and outlines methods of family systems therapy in the treatment of depression. Recommended for popular psychology collections.ALucille M. Boone, San Jose P.L., CA
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Golden Books Adult Publishing
• Publication date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 158238021X
• ISBN 13: 9781582380216
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 256