Depression and the Body: The Biological Basis of Faith and Reality

By Alexander Lowen

Book Overview

The depressed person, says Dr. Alexander Lowen, is out of touch with reality - and especially with the reality of his or her own body. This inspiring, pioneering book explores the cultural and psychological forces that contribute to this condition and shows how we can overcome depression, first by reestablishing the connection to our physical selves and learning to recognize the physical manifestations of our emotions. Drawing on his vast experience with depressed patients, Dr. Lowen outlines a series of simple but remarkably effective exercises that help us reawaken to our own inherent energies, enable us to express our love and uniqueness, and recover our spirituality and faith in living. " Dr. Lowen's] book is both important and, for the serious lay reader, engrossing. He is an unusually lucid writer, unburdened by jargon, candidly personal." - Publishers Weekly

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0140194657
• ISBN13: 9780140194654
• Release Date: January 1993
• Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.52 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.3" x 7.8"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

The Intelligence of the human body

Alexander Lowen writes an intelligent piece of literature. He explains in detail how depression is alienation from one's body. A real eye-opener.

Surprisingly worthwhile read

I am a licensed counselor and have been reading professional literature since the late '70's, had run into Lowen here & there, but never paid him much attention, assuming he would be dry and theoretical. I just picked up Depression and the Body and found it quite helpful. The bioenergetic theory and treatment remain to be proven. Lowen's explanations make sense on the surface, anyway. But his understanding of depression, while not groundbreaking, is clear, complete, compassionate and adaptable to the counseling situation. While he focuses on early childhood and its traumas (not usually fertile ground for therapy in the real world) he also provides some useful here-and-now insights about the thinking of a depressed person and how it needs to change in order for recovery to occur. I didn't give the book five stars because some of the book digresses into material about social and cultural issues that have little to do with the problem of depression. But overall I would recommend this book for anyone wanting to read about depression from a HUMAN angle.