This book was fantastic.

Maybe the best book on depression I have read.

Yapko is the kind of no-nonsense, take-action, here-is-exactly-what-to-do kind of author that I really appreciate. He gives precise strategies and communicates efficiently - this book is not bloated or padded at all.

I have criticized many mental health books for being too biological (blaming it all on neurotransmitter deficiencies or nutrient problems), or too psychological (blaming it all on your psychology or past traumas), and so I am forced to criticize Yapko for this as well - though he is firmly against drugs, there was no mention of nutrition or chemicals or EMF or many other biological factors to mental health.

To be a well-rounded overview of depression would require a bio-psycho-social approach. But this book isn’t an overview, it’s a manual, and a very good one.

I was severely depressed for most of my life. I fixed my health and that helped a bit, but it was actually fully fixed when I implemented many of the strategies in this book - I changed my attitude, I took more responsibility, I became a better friend, son, husband, and I devoted to something bigger than myself. Most of the strategies I read in other books were useless to me, and Yapko (delightfully) denounced several of those still-popular memes with a stern clarity that I couldn’t have been happier to see in print.

I highly recommend this book for anyone who is depressed, anxious, has crummy relationships or is unsure of how to even form relationships.

This book is so clear that you could buy it for anyone with a 6th grade reading ability and it should help them if they actually implement the wisdom.