Managing your Depression What you can do to Feel Better

A concise, practical guide to managing mood disorders for anyone suffering from these debilitating conditions.

As a physician who personally suffers from depression, Susan J. Noonan draws on her own expertise and empathy to create a guide for people who suffer from the disease. Explaining the basics of mental health―including sleep hygiene, diet and nutrition, exercise, routine and structure, and avoiding isolation―Managing Your Depression empowers people to participate in their own care, offering them a better chance of getting, and staying, well. Noonan’s depression management strategies draw on the best available educational resources, psychoeducational programs, seminars, expert health care providers, and patient experiences.

The book is specifically designed to be highly readable for people who are finding it difficult to focus and concentrate during an episode of depression. Cognitive exercises and daily worksheets help track progress and response to therapy and provide valuable information for making treatment decisions. A relapsing and remitting condition, depression affects nearly 15 percent of people in the United States. Managing Your Depression will bring depression management strategies to people who do not have access to mental health programs or who want to learn new skills.

Susan J. Noonan, MD, MPH, is a physician, certified peer specialist, mental health and wellness coach, speaker and consultant to Massachusetts General Hospital and to The Engage Initiative. She is the author of Take Control of Your Depression: Strategies to Help You Feel Better Now and Helping Others with Depression: Words to Say, Things to Do, and Reconnecting After Isolation: Coping with Anxiety, Depression, Grief, PTSD, and More.

Timothy J. Petersen, PhD, is a clinical psychologist at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Jonathan E. Alpert, MD, PhD, is an associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and a psychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Andrew A. Nierenberg, MD, is a professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and a psychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital.