View source for My Depression : A Picture Book by Elizabeth Swados

{{infobox1
|title=My Depression : A Picture Book
|author=Elizabeth Swados
|reviewer=Sue Magee
|genre=Autobiography
|summary=If you need to understand how depression feels then this is the perfect book: the pictures fill in where words fail to convey what is happening.
|rating=4
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|pages=176
|publisher=Seven Stories Press
|date=May 2015
|isbn=978-1609806040
|website=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Swados
|cover=1609806042
|aznuk=1609806042
|aznus=1609806042
}}

If you have ever suffered from depression you'll find it very difficult to explain to other people how you're feeling.  You're not feeling ''just a little bit down''.  A treat or a dollop of positive thinking will not miraculously cure you.  You're definitely not swinging the lead, but suffering from a legitimate illness which deserves to be recognised.  Elizabeth Swados is a long-term sufferer from severe depression: she's also a talented storyteller and has told her the story of how depression feels for her - complete with drawings, which fill in those gaps which words can never fill for any sufferer from depression.

If you need to know more about depression, you should have a look at the [http://bit.ly/1FpwmFL NHS website] where you should be able to get the guidance you need, from the people who know.  There's even a test to take if you feel that you might be depressed and it is better if you get help sooner rather than later.  If - on the other hand - you want to understand what depression feels like from the inside, then this book is an excellent starting point for a family member, friend or carer.  It's expressed in gloriously simple terms which anyone can understand. 

Life can be good for Swados: she tells us - in words and pictures - what she enjoys.  This is no sad woman looking for sympathy but a vibrant, exciting personality who's a musician and author.  She's suffered from depression, on and off, for most of her life and she knows what can trigger a depression (and, yes, I recognised all of them) and how to spot when one's coming on.  It's the sense of a little cloud at the very edge of her vision and then the other symptoms begin to crowd in.  Here it's the pictures which speak louder than words, because you might be able to ''name'' the symptoms but it's almost impossible to describe them so that someone else understands.  The pictures - the ''scribbles'' do it perfectly.

We're guided through exactly how it feel as you sink deeper and deeper into depression and then - hopefully - claw your way out of the other side.  She's honest too about the strained relationships which can so often result, the side effects of antidepressants and how some people simply won't get out of bed.  I've never experienced that one, but it's about the only symptom I didn't recognise.  Are you beginning to think that this is taking your pleasures too sadly?  Well don't - the story is told with humour and affection and it's an easy, engaging, but above all ''informative'' read.

I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy to the Bookbag.

For another look at exactly how depression feels we can recommend [[Shoot the Damn Dog by Sally Brampton]] - only you don't get any pictures.  You might also enjoy [[Gone by Min Kym]].  You could shelve this next to [[Living With Depression by Nick Weatherhogg]].

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[[Category:Lifestyle]]