Discouragement and Depression by Henry Cloud and John Townsend

Even though I am no longer suffering from depression, I wanted to read Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsend’s What to Do When You Don’t Know What to Do: Discouragement and Depression because a great friend gave it to me for encouragement and insight.

The entire time I was reading the book, I thought back to how I felt when I was in the utter dark despair of my depression a few months ago. I tried to put myself back in that mindset as if I was reading the book for help. While I was doing this, I also tried to stay in the present and evaluate the book with a rationale, non-depressed, mind.

The book writes about eight principles to guide you out of depression, and then talks about depression and discouragement and beginning the journey to healing. I found all eight of the principles to be very valid and helpful to a person, but not particularly so if they are in the throes of horrific depression. Speaking from a standpoint of a person who has been depressed to the point of not being able to function in daily tasks, I would find doing any of these things in that kind of depression to be almost insurmountable. Looking at these guidelines from a non-depressed point of view, I do see though how they could be extremely helpful to someone who is mild to moderately depressed (and still able to function), and could certainly put a person on the path to recovery.

I did find an underlying theme of getting help for depression though, which I greatly appreciated. Cloud and Townsend understand the importance of getting help for depression, especially before it gets out of hand as well as the need for medication in a lot of circumstances.

I do absolutely agree that the healing of depression does begin with God, even if that beginning is a good friend being Jesus to you and helping with whatever you need help with.

I would recommend this book to people who are depressed and/or need encouragement. It certainly points them in the right direction and underlines the need to get professional help in a lot of situations.

Disclosure of Material Connection: The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”