The Mindful Way through Depression: Freeing Yourself From Chronic… (2007)

First let me state that I believe the most effective treatment for my loved one is medication coupled with group and individual therapy, with that disclaimer out of the way I chose this book to read because I also believe in mindfulness. No doubt there are those who will use the techniques outlined in the book sans medication and therapy, however for my loved one that is not an option, but The Mindful Way Through Depression offers my loved one yet another tool toward healing and not suffering from a relapse. If you are reading this review then you know someone with a mood disorder and probably know that each person responds to different forms of treatment. I am not advocating one form of treatment over another, and with that stated, I would recommend this book to those who want a more holistic approach to depression. ( )

Simply life changing.

I purchased this book, based on references to John Teasdale's work given in Jeffrey M. Schwartz's book, "The Mind and the Brain: Neuroplasticity and the Power of Mental Force". Without having seen this book, I primed myself to think that it might not only give instruction on "The Mindful Way",but that it might also delve more deeply into Teasdale's research that Dr. Schwartz had mentioned.

Instead (and with the slightest bit more of research I should have realized this), this book describes more about how to achieve mindfulness. There is little to no neuroscience described. That is NOT a fault of this book, but a fault of my own wishes.

As far as a description of how to practice mindfulness, this book does an admirable job, but not in any way that is too much different from many other excellent sources (including some by one of the co-authors, Jon Kabat-Zinn), hence, I give it only 3 stars.

For someone that is just encountering mindfulness for the first time, I think it might be an excellent introduction and might rate higher. For such an individual, I DO recommend this book! ( )

This book isn't exactly a quick read, but it does a great job of explaining the way in which negative thinking patterns make (and keep) people depressed, and how to overcome them. Do you ever find yourself feeling bad about feeling bad? This book explains that such an approach just creates more suffering, and it's better to accept the first bad feeling without piling more bad feelings on top of it.

For the record, I do believe in medication and therapy (and use both), but I also find mindfulness invaluable. I don't think the two fields are incompatible. There's a limit to what you can learn about mindfulness from a book--I recommend seeing if your local mindfulness center has a beginner course available--but if you're going to, this book is a good place to start.

The "eight-week program" the book mentions isn't outlined until the very last chapter, so if you're just looking to jump into the practical side of mindfulness, skip to that chapter. It tells you which chapters in the book are related to each week of the program, so you can go back and read those at the appropriate times.

Study after study has shown that people who meditate regularly are healthier than those who don't, on both a physical and mental level. Don't discount it. ( )

I read this because my partner is about to do a group course in this, and she's read the book too (I don't personally suffer from a mental illness). The book argues that in many situations where we suffer mentally, our thinking merely ties us up in further knots. However, developing meditation/mindful techniques can help us be more aware of our feelings and our bodies, and it can eventually help us take on a more aware, nurturing attitude towards ourselves, our lives and our experiences. Although admittedly it is a little repetitive at times, I think it is probably one of the best self-help books out there for all manner of mental illnesses - certainly not just depression. In fact, I think that everyone who even suffers from mild stress on occasion, or who merely thinks that their daily routine is grinding them down a little will significantly benefit from this book. Aside from the mental health angle, meditation is an invaluable tool, and this is one of the clearest, most structured ways to become proficient in it. I also personally know one of the authors from my research department (John Teasdale) and know that this is one of the few self-help books that actually has some very solid research behind it. Decent papers have been published demonstrating this method's efficacy at reducing the rate of depressive relapse (see the notes section for page 3 for references). More recenlty, another publication showed in an NHS setting that this treatment is as effective as staying on anti-depressant medication and more cost-effective than conventional therapy (there is a BBC article about this here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7754632.stm). Very highly recommended. ( )