When Nothing Matters Anymore: A Survival Guide for Depressed Teens

A guide to understanding and coping with depression, discussing the different types, how and why the condition begins, how it may be linked to substance abuse or suicide, and how to get help

Grade 7 Up-Cobain, a psychiatric nurse who works with teens, provides facts, clears away misconceptions, and conveys support and understanding to young adults who are feeling depressed. She discusses warning signs and urges readers to act upon them. The book is arranged in two parts, the first of which gives statistics and covers the causes and types of depression, the dangers of addictions and eating disorders, and the relationship between depression and suicide. There is also information on the effects of depression on the brain. The second section deals with treatment options and offers suggestions for positive mental and physical health. Moving accounts of young people who have considered or attempted suicide lend a note of urgency to the author's message. Cobain's style is passionate, but is at times overwrought. There are many references to her cousin, Kurt Cobain, the lead singer of the group Nirvana, who committed suicide in 1994. The celebrity link should attract attention; however, as the author and her famed cousin didn't know one another, this aspect seems overdone. Thumbnail black-and-white photographs and sketches illustrate the text. Toby Axelrod's Working Together against Teen Suicide (Rosen, 1996) deals with teens helping their troubled peers, and Nikki Goldman's Teen Suicide (Benchmark, 1995) is less personal in tone. Without question, Cobain has compiled a fount of information, and she is articulate. However, while useful for consultation and reports, the book is wordy and repetitious.
Libby K. White, Jewish Vocational Services, Baltimore, MD
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.