Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Summary

This is a crash course in handling depression. It’s written by a doctor of clinical psychology, but is done so in a way that the information is easily accessed by your average adult reader. It covers all sorts of topics including different ways to combat depression yourself, when to reach out for help, and what to expect if you do reach out for help.

What I Liked

• This book is a great tool for anyone who has ever suffered from depression, anyone who lacks motivation, or anyone who knows someone who has depression. There are so many invaluable tips and tricks in this book, and over and over again I found a sentence just sticking out to me, challenging me to change how I view myself and my life in such a logical, “why didn’t I think of that?” sort of way.
• The profanity. Hear me out, since I’ve also listed this below as a reason why I didn’t like the book. The two reasons I liked the profanity was:
  • If anything deserves to be cursed at, it’s depression.
  • It opens this set of knowledge up to a group of people who normally wouldn’t be reached by self-help or psychology books.
• Here are some of the quotes that stood out to me.
  • “You don’t have to be motivated to do things that normally take motivation. You just need to act as if you were motivated.”
  • “Our brains are amazing, but they are also kinda lazy.”
    (He goes on to discuss the shortcuts our brains make. These shortcuts are great most of the time, but sometimes, not so much.)
  • “In reality, you can feel any sort of way and also act in whatever way you would like.”
    (This was sort of a ‘duh’ moment for me. I don’t have to believe that I’m good with people to act like I’m good with people. I don’t have to feel like I’m a productive person to get stuff done. This quote helps me get a past a lot of unnecessary mental blocks.)

What I Didn’t Like

• The profanity. You can see why I liked it above. But here’s why I didn’t like it:
  • It often felt like there was more profanity in the book than there would be in natural conversation. Like a movie trying to bump itself up to an “R” rating instead of PG13. And that sort of jarred me from the message.
  • This book was such an invaluable tool for so many people that I want to recommend it to everyone. But I can’t. Because I know a lot of the wouldn’t be able to handle the language. And that stinks.
• While the author did a pretty good job of writing this book in a conversational style, sometimes it got so informal that the writing came across as amateur. It really only bothered me when it jolted me from the reading, which only happened once or twice.

In Conclusion

If you suffer from depression, know someone who suffers from depression, or just want a book to help you improve your life, definitely pick up this book! (Just be aware there is profanity.)

Find it on: Goodreads | Amazon (affiliate link)

(affiliate link)