A primer on depression

 

Mint condition. PB. 190pp. $15 including postage anywhere in Australia.

These guides from People's Medical Society address the most common medical concerns in an accessible question-and-answer format. In a departure from conventional references, these books present both traditional and alternative methods of treatment, and offer pro and con points of view for each

A guide to managing depression

 

Rare book. Good condition. PB. 256pp. $18 including postage anywhere in Australia

... the book is also stacked with advice for the friends and family of the sufferers, and there’s information about every type of depression imaginable, from manic depression and anxiety disorders to postnatal depression and the reactive depression that’s common amongst people undergoing a traumatic event, like the death of a spouse or a parent.

So despite its age, I’d still recommend this book if you want to learn more about depression, whether it’s for yourself or for a loved one. In fact, it’s the best overall guide to the condition that I’ve ever read, and I’ve read a few of them.

The Brain That Changes Itself by Norman Doidge

 

Mint condition. PB. 427pp. $20 including postage anywhere in Australia.

An astonishing new science called neuroplasticity is overthrowing the centuries-old notion that the human brain is immutable.

Psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, Norman Doidge, M.D., traveled the country to meet both the brilliant scientists championing neuroplasticity and the people whose lives they've transformed people whose mental limitations or brain damage were seen as unalterable.

We see a woman born with half a brain that rewired itself to work as a whole, blind people who learn to see, learning disorders cured, IQs raised, aging brains rejuvenated, stroke patients learning to speak, children with cerebral palsy learning to move with more grace, depression and anxiety disorders successfully treated, and lifelong character traits changed.

Doidge takes us onto terrain that might seem fantastic. We learn that our thoughts can switch our genes on and off, altering our brain anatomy. We learn how people of average intelligence can, with brain exercises, improve their cognition and perception, develop muscle strength, or learn to play a musical instrument — simply by imagining doing so.

Using these marvelous stories to probe mysteries of the body, emotion, love, sex, culture, and education, Dr. Doidge has written an immensely moving, inspiring book that will permanently alter the way we look at our brains, human nature, and human potential.

About the Author

Norman Doidge, M.D., is a psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, researcher, author, essayist and poet.

He is on the Research Faculty at Columbia University’s Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research, in New York, and the University of Toronto’s Department of Psychiatry.

He is a native of Toronto.