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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 8 of 8. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by uncouth on August 25, 2011, at 12:40:09
Hey all,
I wanted to start a thread to collect a list and comments on which books people have read during their depressions (or after) that have helped give them a new understanding of their condition, or helped them transcend/make meaning out of suffering. Not necessarily looking for books that just describe depression and how to treat it, more interested in books that have given you hope, new understanding, self-empathy, spiritual FAITH, succor, renewed your motivation for life, etc. Sorta stuff beyond self-help which never seems to really help me. Fiction or nonfiction.Basically I need something new to read and I am still suffering, some days better than others, but the bad days are pretty damn bad still, with self-pity and anhedonia and apathy and amotivation. Any specific suggestions on what to read NOW would help.
Here's my list off the top of my head, probably missing a lot. Right now i'm reading The Brothers Karamazov.
- Infinite Jest (on the top of the list because I recently read it and David Foster Wallace suffered from severe depression and addiction and killed himself in 2008)...this novel has the most poignant and compelling descriptions of mental illness and addiction I've ever read. It's 1000 pages though.
- An Unquiet Mind
- Darkness Visible
- Mere Christianity by CS Lewis
- Spiritual Depression by Martyn Lloyd-Jones (famous British Pastor)
- Bible, sometimes, when my faith is already strong
- Mindfulness in Plain English
- Mindful Way Though Depression
- Drama of the Gifted Child
- Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous
- I Don't Want to Talk About it (book about men and depression)
- Tolstoy's Confession
- Lincoln's Melancholy (HIGHLY recommended)Anyway look forward to your responses
Uncouth
Posted by Christ_empowered on August 25, 2011, at 13:38:59
In reply to What books have helped you transcend your sufferin, posted by uncouth on August 25, 2011, at 12:40:09
The Bible
Posted by mellow on August 25, 2011, at 15:34:06
In reply to What books have helped you transcend your sufferin, posted by uncouth on August 25, 2011, at 12:40:09
I never could get through Infinite Jest, but I do respect Wallace. Nonfiction really isn't my thing though. He gave a commence speech that was later made into a little pamphlet book called "This is Water". YouTube it for the actual audio. You absolutely must hear it. You will cry if you put it in the context of his death two years later. For me it meant that we don't always have to be recovered to be a light.
Other books...
Madness: A bipolar life by Marya Hornbacher
We all fall Down by Nic Scheff
A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle
Excuses be gone by Wayne Dyer
Big Book of AA for sureWhat a great topic!
mellow
Posted by Phillipa on August 25, 2011, at 18:55:42
In reply to Re: What books have helped you transcend your sufferin, posted by mellow on August 25, 2011, at 15:34:06
On the light side a fiction book "See Jane Run" Joy Felding. Loved it was about a psych patient. read all the self-helf books years ago. When new to any mental disorder was new so interesting now not so. Phillipa
Posted by jono_in_adelaide on August 26, 2011, at 0:31:24
In reply to What books have helped you transcend your sufferin, posted by uncouth on August 25, 2011, at 12:40:09
Unfortunatly, none - the only thing that has ever helped me feel better is drugs - self help books and talk therapy havent ever helped.
I tried to explain it to my doctor like this - if I had a compound fracture of the leg, you could explain the reasons I was in agony to me in any detail you wanted, but I'd still be in pain, the only thing that would stop that was a pain killer.
Same with my anxiety/depression, I have good insight, I know its all in my head, and that I'm not going to die from it, but knowing that doesnt make it any easier to put up with
Posted by sleepygirl2 on August 26, 2011, at 6:03:30
In reply to What books have helped you transcend your sufferin, posted by uncouth on August 25, 2011, at 12:40:09
I don't know about transcending suffering, but a few that have helped me understand people a little more are:
"touched with fire"
"man's search for meaning"
Tuesdays with morrie
Trapped in the mirror
Les miserables
Drama of the gifted child
The power of myth
Right now I pick up "A mood apart" every once in a while
Posted by bleauberry on August 27, 2011, at 16:00:09
In reply to What books have helped you transcend your sufferin, posted by uncouth on August 25, 2011, at 12:40:09
1. the Bible
2. any herbal book
Posted by Abby Cunningham on August 28, 2011, at 19:14:58
In reply to Re: What books have helped you transcend your sufferin, posted by bleauberry on August 27, 2011, at 16:00:09
The Bible
"Suffering and the Sovereignty of God" by John Piper - http://www.desiringgod.org/store/video-dvds/suffering-and-the-sovereignty-of-god-2
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