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Persoanl Responsibilty

Customer Rating:

I have read the negative reviews and they do not surprise me. Ms Rowe's books are not for the feint of heart nor for those not wishing to take responsibility for themselves. Yes I do know what depression is, I know what it is to be in so much pain that death seems far preferable. Yes, I had a terrible childhood and had every reason to be depressed. However, Ms Rowe indeed showed me the way out of my prison. If people don't see that she gives clear methods for getting out, then they must not want to see them. What realised, and she taught me, was that my childhood had taught me to think in a way that was detrimental to my health, that was the cause of my depression(in fact manic depression - bi - polar disorder). thru reading her books I came to understand myself, why I was suffering and how only I could end it. And the way to end it was to take responsibility for my own recovery and two start the process of changing my thinking. Her explanation of ideas and meaning structures were the doorway for me. Today, I don't suffer from depression. I no longer think I was at fault for the abuse I suffered as a child and I am free of the vile thinking I had been taught. I freed myself with Ms Rowe as the guide. I would not be alive today if not for her books. Oh and I am drug free for depression and have been for years now. I also now have a 24/7 physical pain problem, am disabled, but still not depressed! I think differently and Ms Rowe showed me how. If her books are to be of help, one has to accept that the only way to change is by changing oneself and not relying on others to change.

Read with caution

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My counsellor recommended this book when I had major clinical depression and was feeling very suicidal. After reading it I felt much worse. I felt the book confirmed the fact that I was useless and had no life skills. I felt very patronised and childish. The author, like a school teacher, suggests very simple things so how could I be so stupid not to be able to do this for myself? Ms Rowe seemed to suggest that the sepression was all my fault as, after all, it was me keeping myself in my prison!! Incidentally, my depression was caused by hypothyroidism, which the author failed to mention as a possible cause. For her, it was all psychological. I now take levothyroxine and have never felt better. I would never recommend this book to anyone unless they had a mild case of the blues. So...read with caution.

Brilliant Book	Customer Rating:
Reading through this book, I felt myself nodding and feeling like finally one person understood what I was going through.The practical advice and non-patronising tone made it easier to read as well.Helped me greatly in my five year journey out of depression. Very good book on the subject(compared to many others I've read)

If you are depressed, you probably know more about it than Dorothy Rowe

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As someone who's suffered from depression since very early in my life, I found Dorothy Rowe sort of self-indulgent with her own ideas. The portrait that she draws of depression and the depressed person just didn't match my personal situation and experience. I think she has very narrow vision of the problem of depression, and a very narrow vision of the persons who suffer the problem. Rather than with authority, she seems to speak with authoritarianism. She has this extremely strict idea of what the depressed person is and she doesn't even consider the possibility of variation. Put simply, if you don't despise yourself and everyone around you, think you are wicked, that you don't deserve anything good from life; if you didn't suffer a tragedy or a big loss in your life..., then you are out of Rowe's universe of depressed people. Of course, she might argue that her truth is indisputable, that I'm just in denial...

Extremes can help everyone see more clearly

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I only had one debilitating period of depression which lasted about eight months, and it was a long time ago, but Dorothy Rowe puts her finger on exactly how you sink into it: a profound disappointment leads to a sense of worthlessness and paralysis. That in turn leads you to cut yourself off from other people and see the world in a dark hue. Her approach is not scientific, she just explains how she has been talking to depressed people for 20 years and these are her observations. She's tough and controversial. I've read several other of Dorothy Rowe's books, I feel one a year is a good refresher course. This book is excellent. When I finished it, I remembered a line from Dr Eric Berne (Games People Play), "This may mean that there is no hope for the human race, but there is hope for individual members of it."