On Fridays I will address a question related to depression and find the answer from an expert. If you have a question you want answered, please ask it on the combox of this post, and I’ll try my best to do some research and feature it in an upcoming Friday post.

A few people recently have asked me: Can you give me a list of recommended reading on the topic of depression and bipolar disorder? Since there is so much material out there, it can be overwhelming to sort through all the publications. Following is a list of good reading for persons suffering from depression or bipolar disorder, or their family members and loved ones. Be sure to add your own in the combox of this post!

1. “Understanding Depression: What We Know and What You Can Do About It” by J. Raymond DePaulo Jr., M.D. and Leslie Alan Horvitz. In my opinion, this book is the best overview available on depression and bipolar disorder. DePaulo, professor of psychiatry and Director of the Affective Disorders Clinic at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, offers a comprehensive and compassionate summary for anyone dealing with mood disorders.

2.  “Listening to Prozac: The Landmark Book about Antidepressants and the Remaking of Self,” by Peter D. Kramer. In this bestseller, Peter Kramer transforms the way we think about antidepressants and mental illness, and gives us an update on the use of antidepressants in America and the latest scientific research. The New York Times calls this book “an intelligent and informative book [which tells] us new things about the chemistry of human characters.”

3. “Against Depression,” by Peter D. Kramer. As a follow up to his bestseller, “Listening to Prozac,” Kramer refutes our notion of “heroic melancholy” and walks readers through groundbreaking research and studies that confirm depression’s status as a devastating disease. I found this book extremely consoling, and as armor I could use to explain my mood disorder those who told me to “snap out of it.”

4. “A Deeper Shade of Blue: A Woman’s Guide to Recognizing and Treating Depression in Her Childbearing Years,” by Ruta Nonacs, M.D., Ph.D. This helpful publication covers everything from PMS, to depression during pregnancy, to postpartum mood disorders, to minimizing depression and managing stress while raising kids. This text offers ways to recognize and treat depression during childbearing ways, and provides suggestions on how to involve the entire family in recovery.

5. “The Ghost in the House: Motherhood, Raising Children and Struggling with Depression,” by Tracy Thompson. Thompson, an award-winning reported for the “Washington Post,” pens a powerful memoir about her depression after becoming a mother as well as compiling the stories of nearly 400 mothers with depression and investigating the latest scientific research on depression. A blend of journalism and personal anecdotes make this book a powerful read.

6. “An Unquiet Mind: Memoirs of Moods and Madness,” by Kay Redfield Jamison. Penned by one of the foremost experts on manic depression, this book was the first one I read on bipolar disorder, and I found such consolation in her descriptions. Because, until I read about her experience, I thought I was alone. I encourage every person suffering from bipolar disorder to read her poetic testimony, because hope is found in her words.

7. “Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy” by David D. Burns, M.D. This book is filled with great exercises for cognitive behavioral therapy that can help you begin to change your thought patterns. Once I reached a place where I was no longer suicidal, I tried to tackle the negative thought process in my mind that leads to depression and anxiety. This book helps you do that because it identifies 10 forms of twisted thinking, and 15 ways to untwist that thinking.

8. “Darkness Visible: A Memoir of Madness” by William Styron. I refer to this book all the time when I feel pathetic and weak for not being able to snap out of a depression. In this memoir, Styron candidly and poetically articulates his descent into a crippling depression, its tortuous progression, and the miracle of his recovery. His testimony inspires me to tackle the beast as well as I can, and to go gentle with myself.

9. “Authentic Happiness: Using the New Positive Psychology to Realize Your Potential for Lasting Fulfillment” by Martin E. P. Seligman, Ph.D. Seligman, founder of Positive Psychology, a new branch of psychology that focuses on the empirical study of such things as positive emotions and strengths-based character offers a bestselling sequel to his acclaimed “Learned Optimism.” In this book, he again shifts the professional paradigm from mental illness and pathology to positive emotion and mental health. (Note: You need to be at a good place to read positive psychology, because its philosophies may make you feel worse if you’re still very ill.)

10. “Loving Someone with Bipolar Disorder” by Julie A. Fast and John D. Preston, Phy.D. This is a book designed to help a spouse of a person with bipolar disorder. With the supportive and helpful information, strategies, and real-life examples, the publication offers partners of bipolars the tools they need to create loving and healthy relationships.

11. “Bipolar Disorder: A Guide for Patients and Families” by Francis Mark Mondimore, M.D. This is a compassionate and comprehensive guide to help persons cope with bipolar disorder, and to offer insights to their family members. A reader-friendly text updated with new options for treatment and information on the genetics of the disease, the book is a practical and empathetic resource.

12. “The Highly Sensitive Person: How to Thrive When the World Overwhelms You,”
by Elaine N. Aron, Ph.D. This book, probably more than any other publication, has helped me deal with my anxiety as a “highly sensitive person,” someone who is easily overwhelmed in stimulating environments where there is fluctuation of sound and light, or life in general. In addition to self-assessment tests, this book offers tips on how to deal with overarousal and insights into how highly-sensitive persons deal with professional and personal conflict.

To read more Beyond Blue, go to http://blog.beliefnet.com/beyondblue, and to get to Group Beyond Blue, a support group at Beliefnet Community, click here.