A really useful source of information about depression
Just about everyone, it seems, has an opinion about depression, its causes and how best to treat it. As someone who has experienced depression on and off for many years, I know that you can present your symptoms to different health professionals and be given radically different answers – from prescribing strong anti-depressant medications to being told to “pull yourself together” to focussing on lifestyle changes such as exercise and diet, and making changes in your working life and relationships. This means that when you actually encounter an chapter of depression, either in yourself or someone close to you, it can be incredibly difficult to know who to turn to, what to believe and what course of action to pursue.
The Changing Our Minds DVD was incredibly useful to me because, for the first time, it laid out in plain English the full range of explanations and approaches that are used in diagnosing and treating depression and dysthymia (a chronic type of depression in which your moods are regularly low, but with less severe symptoms than major depression – something else I learnt from the video!).
The film brings together experts across the whole spectrum of approaches to depression, from drug-based treatments, to talking therapies, to individual and family psychology, to love, relationships and spirituality. I found this approach helpful and reassuring, because it highlights that there are a number of different possible pathways out of depression, gives you the information you need about each, allowing you to make up your own mind about what might be most appropriate for you.
When you are suffering from depression, you may be unwilling to believe or put your faith in anybody to help you through it – or, conversely, you might be too willing to accept whatever the first professional you speak to has to say about it. Changing Our Minds will help you to find the middle ground, giving you the knowledge to make informed judgements about your depression or dysthymia and what treatment or approach is right for you.
The tone is just right too, authoritative without being too technical, accessible without being patronising. The DVD is not just filled with “experts” talking about depression either. Alongside the professionals you get to hear from ordinary people like you and I who share their own experiences of depression. This is helpful as I found I could readily identify with their stories about their own experiences of depression and how they have been helped through it. Hearing others speaking about these things can make it much easier to recognise the signs and symptoms in yourself or others.
The film is ultimately a very positive and empowering resource that I would strongly recommend to anybody who either has depression or dysthymia themselves, or who is concerned about someone close to them. It will provide you with an honest and balanced account of what depression is, different ways of treating it, and how you can overcome it.
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