Great Books and Other Media

Depression Out of the Shadows by PBS Home Video, copyright 2008. Today I watched this DVD about the many different types of people who have depression: new moms, teen-agers, gang members, CEOs and how it manifests itself in these different people. The video profiled each person and even interviewed the parents of teen-agers. The video brought up the subject of bi-polar illlness and discussed different treatments. The science was kept to a minimum and was very understandable. I think this is a great video for people who do not understand the disease. I would love to own a copy of this video and make it mandatory watching for my close minded family members. Order this DVD from PBS.

My Beautiful Broken Shell: Words of Hope to Refresh the Soul by Carol Hamblet Adams. I bought this book this past week as a gift to myself. It's for those of us who need to know we are lovable despite our
imperfections (that we all have for because we're human). Even if our souls feel broken or damaged, we are still beautiful and grateful for us. The illustrations are just as refreshing as the text.

I bought this book at a Christian book store.

On the Edge of Darkness: Conversations about Conquering Depression by Kathy Cronkite. My very first psychiatrist on my very first office visit assigned this book for reading . He was a psychiatrist who was really into educating his patient. I am grateful he told me about this book. Famous people tell their stories about depression and bipolar disease. Doctors are contributors too as are family members.

The Self-Esteem Workbook by Glenn R. Schiraldi, PhD.  The workbook requires work, and I've been working my way through this book off and on for several years. Some of my favorite chapters are Chapter 5, "Recognize and Replace Self-Defeating Thoughts," and Chapter 7, "Regard Your Core Worth."

The Verbally Abusive Relationship by Patricia Evans. My copy is copyrighted in 1992. It's geared to those in romantic relationships, but I just mentally crossed out words referring to spouse or partner and replaced it with parent or boss. I wondered if the author was spying on my family of origin.