My Depression: A Picture Book

by Elizabeth Swados

Book Overview

A chronicle of a personal journey through the ravages of depression, by turns poignant and funny, is told through a series of whimsical drawings that serve to create a highly readable account of coping with a serious illness.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1401307892
• ISBN13: 9781401307899
• Release Date: April 2005
• Publisher: Hyperion Books
• Length: 1 Pages
• Weight: 0.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.3" x 8.1"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Psychologist gives 5 stars

I highly recommend this unique book. The author, who has suffered from repeated episodes of severe depression, has put her turmoil into line drawings and short captions. She shows you what depression feels and sounds like - how it affects body, mind, spirit, self image, relationships, and view of life itself. Her drawings are simple, stark and moving and the accompanying writing blunt, and alternately laugh out loud funny and grimacingly painful. I would recommend this book to anyone - we all know someone who is or has fought depression, and we owe it to them to understand their experience. For those who are battling depression, this book will not make glib promises, but will offer gritty affirmation and realistic hope.

Perfect

This is the best book I have seen on the topic of depression. Give this to anyone who suffers from depression, or anyone who is close to a victim.

Simple, poignant, witty, fabulous

I have suffered from depression for years and never has a book been so helpful to me. This lighthearted and unique view of depression cuts right to the heart of things. I could recognize myself in the book all the way through and its simple message of hope was uplifting without being corny. Highly recommended.

Swados lights up the Dark

Witty, poignant quirky...this is a great gift to give anyone you love who's ever suffered from depression (including yourself.) Elizabeth Swados has always had a gift for lighting up the darkest places of our lives -- with her music, her words, her art - and this little volume is no exception.

5 Stars For This 7-Star Book

The in-your-face, simple genius of this book is difficult to describe. I would not have thought a book of captioned cartoons could so powerfully and honestly draw (pun intended) the reader into profound, empathetic understanding of how depression feels as it is lived. If one picture is worth a thousand words, these hundreds of powerful pictures are worth far more than mere words could ever communicate. Everything about this book pulls the reader in, and pulls the reader along, effortlessly and entertainingly. Additional power is gained in that the presentation is autobiographical, tragically painful in some portions, but exceptionally witty throughout. If you have ever been depressed, or know anyone who is or has been, please BUY THIS BOOK. I would like to recommend it to all the readers of my study, Mormon Women, Prozac® and Therapy. Reading the book is, quite honestly, genuinely therapeutic.