Against Depression. Peter Kramer, $21.00

Frank and unflinching, Against Depression is a deeply felt, deeply moving book, grounded in time spent with the depressed. As his argument unfolds, Kramer becomes a crusader, the author of a compassionate polemic that is fiercely against depression and the devastation it causes. Like Listening to Prozac, Against Depression will offer hope to millions who suffer from depression — and radically alter the debate on its treatment.

Battling the Blues: the Handbook for Helping Children and Teens with Depression. Kim “Tip” Frank, $27.95

The many ideas in this book represent helpful tools that children and teens can readily employ in the treatment of depressive disorders.

Beyond the Blues: Child and Youth Depression.  Helen Slinger & Maureen Palmer, National Film Board of Canada, $19.95 (DVD, 56 minutes)

Through the personal stories of three youth, this compelling documentary traces the journey of depression, from early signs and symptoms to assessment, diagnosis and treatment.

Beyond the Blues: a Workbook for Teens Who Are Depressed gives teens a collection of exercises designed to supplement professional treatment, whether their feelings of depression are mild or severe, chronic or acute, inherited or situational. Working through these activities will help readers learn techniques that can help them manage their depression and feel positive once more.

Beyond Crazy: Journeys through Mental Illness. Julia Nunes & Scott Simmie, $24.99

"Through powerful stories of Canadians from all walks of life, it demonstrates how it is possible to get past the stigma and the labels and move forward. This book is an important source of inspiration and hope" - Canadian Mental Health Association

Can I Catch It Like a Cold? Coping with a Parent’s Depression.  Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, illustrated by Joe Weissmann, $19.99 (ages 6 and up)

When a parent has depression, children have many questions.  Can I Catch It Like a Cold offers reassurance and allays fears for kids who cope with this adult-sized problem.

Change Your Thinking: Overcome Stress, Anxiety & Depression and Improve Your Life with CBT. Sarah Edelman, $22.50

A highly practical guide for taking charge of your negative emotions through cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) — the evidence based treatment methods used by clinical psychologists.

Coping with an Anxious or Depressed Child. Samantha Cartwright-Hatton, $17.95

Covering practical issues such as diet and routine, as well as more specialized medical information — from the professionals you might encounter to the prescriptions offered — this book is an A to Z guide for parents of anxious or depressed children and will help you maximize your child’s likelihood of a happy, confident future.

Crazy Like Us: the Globalization of the American Psyche. Ethan Watters, $34.00

It is well known that American culture is a dominant force at home and abroad; the exportation of everything from movies to junk food is a well-documented phenomenon. But is it possible America's most troubling impact on the globalizing world has yet to be accounted for?

For millennia, local beliefs in different cultures have shaped the experience of mental illness into endless varieties. Crazy Like Us documents how American interventions have discounted and worked to change those indigenous beliefs, often at a dizzying rate. Over the last decades, mental illnesses popularized in America have been spreading across the globe with the speed of contagious diseases. Watters travels from China to Tanzania to bring home the unsettling conclusion that the virus is us: As we introduce Americanized ways of treating mental illnesses, we are in fact spreading the diseases.

A Deeper Shade of Blue: a Woman's Guide to Recognizing and Treating Depression in Her Childbearing Years. Ruta Nonacs, $27.50

Depression affects women almost twice as often as men and while depression may strike at any time, studies show that women are particularly vulnerable during their childbearing years. Dr. Ruta Nonacs, a senior member of the Center for Women's Mental Health at Massachusetts General Hospital and mother of two children herself, confronts the issues of pregnancy-related depression, including:

• Becoming pregnant while being treated for depression and depression during pregnancy
• Pregnancy loss
• Infertility-related depression and the effects of fertility treatments
• Understanding the effects of maternal depression on spouses and family
• Postpartum depression and anxiety

Dr. Nonacs also looks at many of the complicating factors that occur during the span of a woman’s childbearing years including education, career, marriage, and child rearing and discusses how depression often takes hold during potentially stressful times. Honest and compassionate, A Deeper Shade of Blue gives women who are experiencing a pregnancy-related depression the information and support they need to realize the best possible outcome.

Depression In New Mothers: Causes, Consequences and Treatment Alternatives, 2nd Edition. Kathleen Kendall-Tackett, $48.50

This book provides caregivers with a comprehensive approach to treating postpartum depression in an easy-to-use format, including treatment options that are safe for use with breastfeeding mothers. Addressing fatigue, pain, negative birth experiences, infant characteristics, and psychosocial factors, Depression in New Mothers: Causes, Consequences, and Treatment Alternatives presents a vital, cross-cultural view of depression in new mothers.

Depression is Contagious: How the Most Common Mood Disorder is Spreading around the World and How to Stop It. Michael Yapko, $34.00

Depression’s effects reach into interactions with others, rippling destructively through marriages, families, work environments, and communities like a viral contagion. While commonly prescribed drugs address some of depression's symptoms, they cannot change the social factors that cause and perpetuate the disorder.

Michael Yapko culls from the latest findings in neuroscience, social psychology, epidemiology and genetics to provide a practical, proven plan for developing the skills and insights you need to forge stronger, healthier social connections and enjoy an enriching, interconnected life. Dr. Yapko's groundbreaking plan of action is filled with skill-building emotional and mental exercises, anecdotes and illuminating explanations.

The Depression Cure: the 6-Step Program to Beat Depression without Drugs.  Stephen Ilardi, $18.95

In looking at the increasing rates of depression diagnoses, Dr. Stephen Ilardi reminds us that our bodies were never designed for the sleep-deprived, poorly nourished, frenzied pace of twenty-first century life. In The Depression Cure, Ilardi prescribes an easy-to-follow, clinically proven program that harks back to what our bodies were originally made for and what they continue to need.

Depression 101: a Practical Guide to Treatments, Self-Help Strategies and Preventing Relapse.  John Preston & Melissa Kirk, $19.95

When you have depression, it can feel like there's no way out. To begin changing the way you feel, you'll need an arsenal of proven techniques for lifting your mood and preventing relapse. The pocket-sized Depression 101 distills the most effective cognitive behavioral therapy skills available for treating depression into seven manageable chapters that will help you find the way out of depression and into a healthier, happier life.

The Disappearing Girl: Learning the Language of Teenage Depression. Lisa Machoian, $21.00

Media, peers, and even parents send teenage girls dangerously conflicting messages about what it means to look and act just right and to be good, hip, attractive, and desired. Frighteningly, everyday events can start a teen on a downward spiral. The growing rate of depression in teens is alarming, and parents and adults must understand the difference between "adolescent angst" and trouble … Combining twenty years of research, teaching, psychotherapy, and working with parents, teachers, therapists, social workers, counselors, caregivers, and teens, Dr. Machoian's The Disappearing Girl … explores teen depression, and provides essential guidance for helping the girls we love.

When we are regularly undone by our emotions, we become victims of damaged relationships, trapped circumstances, self-sabotage, and illness. This workbook offers help to all of us who want to gain the upper hand on our feelings and our lives. Even high reactors, people disposed to experiencing strong, even overwhelming emotions on a regular basis, will find its strategies easy to use and effective at managing frequent emotional flare-ups.

Down Came the Rain: My Journey Through Postpartum Depression. Brooke Shields, $19.95

In this compelling memoir, Brooke Shields talks candidly about her experience with postpartum depression after the birth of her daughter. Sure to strike a chord with the millions of women who suffer from depression after childbirth, she shares how she battled this debilitating yet widely misunderstood illness. Exhibiting an informed voice and a self-deprecating sense of humor, this first memoir from a woman who has grown up before the eyes of the world is certain to attract the attention and empathy of many new mothers and fans alike.

Eight Stories Up: an Adolescent Chooses Hope Over Suicide. Dequincy Lezine, with David Brent, $10.95

Eight Stories Up is both a remarkable memoir and a useful, compassionate guide that will ease the isolation and hopelessness caused by thoughts of suicide.

The Estrogen-Depression Connection: the Hidden Link Between Hormones & Women’s Depression. Karen Miller & Steven Rogers, $18.95

This book uncovers the most recent findings on the role of estrogen in women's depression across the life cycle and then offers advice about treatments for depression related to estrogen fluctuations.

The Everything® Parent's Guide to Children with Depression. Rebecca Rutledge & Thomas Bannister, $17.75

Does your child seem sad, withdrawn, or lethargic? You know something's wrong, but you're not sure what to do about it. Your child needs help — your help. With The Everything Parent's Guide to Children with Depression, you can ensure that your child receives the right support and treatment. In this reassuring, practical handbook, Drs. Rebecca Rutledge and Thomas Bannister offer the professional advice you need to determine if your child is at risk; how and when to get professional help and what the best treatment options are and finally what you and your family can do to help.

Finding Your Bipolar Muse: How to Master Depressive Droughts and Manic Floods and Access Your Creative Power. Lana Castle, $20.95

Lana Castle draws from research, interviews, surveys, and her own experience to examine what bipolar disorder and depression bring to the creative mix. Drawing from forty-five years experience in the arts, Castle shares first-hand knowledge, tools, and resources to help both aspiring and professional “creatives” affected by mood disorders overcome challenges and move forward. Illuminating and inspiring, Castle's new book helps artists of all types deal with depressive droughts and manic floods. With sensitivity and grace, Castle explains how “creatives” can tap their talents to recover their lives. Readers will learn how to: manage medications and treatment without thwarting creativity; find focus; set daily, weekly, and monthly goals; develop self-esteem and independence; use their creative talents to generate income.

Get It Done When You're Depressed. Julie Fast & John Preston, $16.50

We live in a culture that rewards (and often worships) productivity, so when a depressed person can’t meet the expectations of society, the depression often becomes worse and a vicious cycle begins. The goal of Getting Things Done When You’re Depressed is to break this cycle. Readers will learn:

• How to prepare yourself mentally for working while depressed
• How to structure your environment so you can work more easily
• How to work with others
• How to prevent depression

Handbook of Depression in Children and Adolescents. Edited by John Abela & Benjamin Hankin, $85.95

This timely, authoritative volume provides an integrative review of current knowledge on child and adolescent depression, covering everything from epidemiology and neurobiology to evidence-based treatment and prevention. From foremost scientist-practitioners, the book is organized within a developmental psychopathology framework that elucidates the factors that put certain children at risk and what can be done to help. Proven intervention models are discussed in step-by-step detail, with coverage of cognitive-behavioral, interpersonal, and pharmacological approaches, among others. Special topics include sex differences in depression, understanding and managing suicidality, and the intergenerational transmission of depression.

Healing Depression & Bipolar Disorder without Drugs: Inspiring Stories of Restoring Mental Health through Natural Therapies. Gracelyn Guyol, $18.95

Healing Depression & Bipolar Disorder Without Drugs features author Gracelyn Guyol’s own story and those of others who have cured or managed their depression and bipolar disorder using only natural therapies — including diet, vitamins, herbal treatments, and energy healing. This practical guide offers patients possible alternatives to psychiatric drugs and to improving their over-all health.

This handy guide is designed to give kids the tools they need to work through their depression and self-esteem issues in a way that’s positive and effective. Author Jerry Wilde has used his experience as a school psychologist to create a workbook that is proven effective in giving kids the tools to break out of the rut of feeling bad. Kids will learn:

• How to think differently so they can feel differently
• What causes depression and low self-esteem
• How to stop worrying about what other people think
• Ways to cheer themselves up when they are feeling low
• And much more…!

Is Your Child Depressed? Answers to Your Toughest Questions. Nathan Naparstek, $22.95

Is Your Child Depressed provides a thorough, up-to-date guide to help you identify and understand childhood depression. This compassionate guide confronts such controversial topics as medications in very young children and adolescents, and offers practical strategies for finding the right professional, disciplining for a depressed child, and how to help your whole family get through the challenges of having a family member with serious depression.

Listening to Depression: a New Way of Thinking about Depression. Lara Honos-Webb, $18.95

What does it really mean to be depressed? You know depression as a collection of symptoms — fatigue, listlessness, feelings of worthlessness — and the source of more than a little pain. But depression is also a signal that something in your life is wrong and needs to be healed. Too often, though, we try to cut off or numb our feelings of depression instead of listening carefully to what they are telling us about our lives. This book offers insightful ways to reframe depression as a gift that can help you transform your life for the better. Each chapter discusses a different aspect of depression as positive opportunity for growth or change. Depression can be the start of a reorientation in life, a step in the search for meaning, or a chance for letting go of hurtful aspects of the self. It can also be a chance to deal with grief and loss and learn to expand your potential. The book concludes with a section of advice about when it is important to defend against depression and how best to go about it when the need arises.

Michael Rosen's Sad Book. Michael Rosen, illustrated by Quentin Blake, $7.50

Sad things happen to everyone, and sometimes people feel sad for no reason at all. What makes Michael Rosen sad is thinking about his son, Eddie, who died suddenly at the age of eighteen. In this book the author writes about his sadness, how it affects him, and some of the things he does to cope with it — like telling himself that everyone has sad stuff (not just him) and trying every day to do something he can be proud of … Whether or not you have known what it's like to feel deeply sad, the truth of this book will surely touch you. With honesty, a touch of humor, and sensitive illustrations by Quentin Blake, Michael Rosen explores the experience of sadness in a way that resonates with us all.

The Mindful Way through Depression: Freeing Yourself from Chronic Unhappiness. J. Mark G. Williams, John Teasdale, Zindel Segal& Jon Kabat-Zinn, $22.95

The Mindful Way through Depression draws on the collective wisdom of four internationally renowned mindfulness experts, including bestselling author Jon Kabat-Zinn, to provide effective relief from the most prevalent psychological disorder. This authoritative, easy-to-use self-help program is based on methods clinically proven to reduce the recurrence of depression. Revealing the hidden psychological mechanisms that cause chronic unhappiness, the authors gently guide readers through a series of exercises designed to break the mental habits that lead to despair. Kabat-Zinn lends his calm, familiar voice to the accompanying CD of guided meditations, making this a complete package for anyone looking to regain a sense of balance and contentment.

The Mindfulness & Acceptance Workbook for Depression. Kirk Strosahl & Patricia Robinson, $28.95

Learn how to use acceptance and commitment therapy to move through depression and create a life worth living. Includes a CD with guided imagery and mindfulness exercises.

Monochrome Days: a First-Hand Account of One Teenager's Experience with Depression. Cait Irwin & Dwight Evans, $10.95

Cait Irwin was diagnosed with major depression at the age of fourteen. In Monochrome Days, she shares her experiences as a young woman who suffered from a crippling depression but was able to recover with the help of a supportive family and expert care. As well as telling her personal story, the book answers questions about symptoms, treatment, medications and how to deal with depression at school and at home. Written for teens, Monochrome Days also provides insight into adolescent depression for family, friends and educators.

More than Moody: Recognizing and Treating Adolescent Depression. Harold S. Koplowicz, $24.00

With solid advice and compelling real-life stories, More Than Moody is an invaluable resource for parents and teens, practical and reassuring. Koplowicz, a child and adolescent psychiatrist, shows parents the warning signs, risk factors and key symptoms that distinguish typical teenage behaviour from clinical depression.

Opening up the darkest corners of her world, author Elizabeth Swados takes us on an unforgettable journey that is by turns poignant and funny, and will be undoubtedly familiar to those who suffer from depression and those who love them. Through the author's whimsical drawings, readers get a unique view of the experience of depression: from the struggle to keep her condition a secret, to the strange effects of "new" drugs, to the small things that can trigger relapses.

My Feeling Better Workbook: Activities that Help Kids Beat the Blues. Sarah Hamil, $19.95; Professional Version with CD-ROM, $29.95

There are many ways to help children who are sad and depressed, and you might not even realize how much you can do to make your child feel better. By working through this book, guiding your child through just one activity a day, you can empower him or her with the skills necessary to overcome sadness and low self-esteem and live an active, joyful life.

My Kind of Sad: What It's Like to be Young and Depressed. Kate Scowen, $12.95

Depression has always afflicted humankind. Yet adolescent depression has only been medically recognized in the past two decades. Daily teen life is tumultuous even at the best of times. So how are you supposed to tell general worries from something more serious?

The New Black: Mourning, Melancholia and Depression. Darian Leader, $20.00

Drawing on examples from literature, art, cinema and history as well as case studies from Leader’s work as a psychoanalyst, The New Black explores the unconscious ways our culture responds to the experience of loss.

The Opposite of Music. Janet Ruth Young, $10.50 (for ages 13 and up)

At first Billy's father just seemed distant, as if he had something on his mind. Then he stopped listening to music, saying it hurt his ears. After a while he stopped eating and sleeping. And after that he just stopped. Stopped being Billy's father and his friend and became someone else — someone who was depressed and withdrawn and wouldn't respond to treatments.

The Opposite of Music is a powerful and realistic debut novel about the lengths a family will go to in order to save one of their own and the strength it takes to learn how to ask for help.

Postpartum Depression Demystified: an Essential Guide for Understanding and Overcoming the most Common Complication after Childbirth. Joyce Venis & Suzanne McCloskey, $20.95

Postpartum depression is the most common complication women experience after childbirth. Yet this serious mood disorder, characterized by sadness, anxiety, feelings of hopelessness and guilt, insomnia, and thoughts of harming the baby or oneself, continues to be widely misunderstood and frequently misdiagnosed. In Postpartum Depression Demystified, renowned PPD authority Joyce Venis and Suzanne McCloskey, both PPD sufferers themselves, turn their combined experience and expertise into an insightful and supportive guide for everyone living with and seeking to understand this condition.

Postpartum Mood and Anxiety Disorders: a Clinician's Guide. Cheryl Tatano Beck & Jeanne Watson Driscoll, $64.50

Designed for clinicians delivering postpartum care, including physicians, midwives, OB-GYN nurse practitioners, and women's health practitioners, this text overviews the six different mood and anxiety disorders that may present during a woman's postpartum year. Postpartum Mood and Anxiety Disorders focuses on assessment, screening tools, diagnosis, treatment, and implications for practice, and includes case studies to integrate the process.

Pregnancy Blues: What Every Woman Needs to Know about Depression During Pregnancy. Shaila Kulkarni Misri, $21.00

The numbers are surprising: up to 70 percent of pregnant women experience some degree of depressive symptoms and of those, 12 percent meet the diagnostic criteria for major depression. Although it is at least as common as postpartum depression, which occurs after a child's birth, pregnancy-related depression is often cloaked in silence, shame, and denial. Pregnancy Blues lifts the veil on this heartbreaking and very treatable illness, examining the key social and biological factors that can come together during pregnancy to create a climate in which depression thrives, as well as offering the many effective treatments that are available.

Raising a Moody Child — How to Cope with Depression and Bipolar Disorder. Mary Fristad and Jill Goldberg Arnold, $21.95

• Give kids the skills to manage their moods with a personalized "coping toolkit"
• Keep challenging conduct from turning home and school into battlegrounds
• Safeguard your couple relationship when parenting stress mounts
• Make the best treatment decisions, find the right professional help, stay alert to common diagnostic errors

A Secret Sadness: the Hidden Relationship Patterns that Make Women Depressed. Valerie Whiffen, $30.95

This breakthrough book examines the often hidden relationship factors that make women depressed, the secret sadness that can last a lifetime.

Sometimes I Get Sad (But Now I Know What Makes Me Happy). Jane Ratcliffe, $19.95

Childhood depression is much more common than most people realize.  Sometimes I Get Sad tells the story of Sara and her sadness.  With the aid of a counselor and a peer group, she learns how to make herself feel better and the skills she needs to manage her emotions.

With sensitive text and warm illustrations, this book opens the door for discussing mental illness with children, especially Bipolar Disorder. A wonderful and practical support for children experiencing the pain and confusion of a parent's mental illness.

Straight Talk about Psychiatric Medications for Kids, 3rd Edition. Timothy Wilens, $19.95

"A real 'how-to' for anyone whose child is being treated with medication for psychiatric problems. This book empowers caregivers." -Judith L. Rapoport, MD

Straight Talk about Psychological Testing for Kids. Ellen Braaten & Gretchen Felopulos, $19.50

"The best book of its kind I have ever seen" - Edward M. Hallowell, MD

Provides "…an exceptional service by distilling complex information into a very readable and pragmatic guide." -Timothy E. Wilens, MD.

• When to seek help and when to wait
• How to prepare your child for a mental health evaluation
• What to ask -and tell- the professional
• How to get needed help and support within the school system
• What to do if you're not satisfied with the diagnosis or advice you receive
• How to weight treatment options to determine what's right for your child

Emily lives with childhood depression. With therapy and medication she learns how to manage her sometimes overwhelming feelings. Her story explains to other children why a child with depression may seem sad or angry and teaches them how to react in a helpful way.

Things to Do When You’re Feeling Blue. Anthony Coccia, Illustrated by Jennifer McLaren, $17.95 (ages 4-8)

Things to Do When You’re Feeling Blue is a positive and gentle reminder for young children that even when you’re feeling sad, there are opportunities to do many things that can make you feel better.

Treating Child and Adolescent Depression. Joseph Rey & Boris Birmaher, $88.95

Treating Child and Adolescent Depression is a practical and authoritative guide to diagnosis and treatment of child and adolescent depression in various clinical settings, health care systems, and cultures.

Understanding Your Teenager's Depression: Issues, Insights and Practical Guidance for Parents, Revised 2005. Kathleen McCoy, $22.50

Understanding Your Teenager's Depression has been newly updated to provide an impressive overview of what it is like to be a teenager today-and what options are now available to make things better. Including up-to-date information on the multiple causes and manifestations of depression-anger, rebellion, eating disorders, sexual promiscuity, truancy, and suicide-this indispensable book also explores the role of learning disabilities in depression, gender and cultural factors, and family relationships and dysfunction.

Unstuck: Your Guide to the Seven-Stage Journey Out of Depression. James Gordon, $20.00

Despite the billions spent on prescription anti-depressant drugs and psychotherapy, people everywhere continue to grapple with depression. Unstuck is psychiatrist James Gordon’s seven-stage program for relief through food and nutritional supplements; Chinese medicine; movement, exercise and dance; psychotherapy, meditation, and guided imagery; and spiritual practice. The result is a remarkable guide that puts the power to change in the hands of those ready to say “no” to suffering and drugs and “yes” to hope and happiness.

When Baby Brings the Blues: Solutions for Postpartum Depression. Ariel Dalfen, $21.95

A leading expert on postpartum depression offers new mothers an insightful, medically sound guide to recovery. When Baby Brings the Blues leads women out of the maze of depression, offering medical and psychotherapeutic options, and practical lifestyle changes. Complete with a PPD diagnosis questionnaire, a treatment plan checklist, and a table of medications and side effects, this upbeat guide also includes an impressive array of resources for further support and programs available in the US and Canada.

When Life Stinks: How to Deal with Your Bad Moods, Blues, and Depression. Michel Piquemal with Melissa Daly, $11.95

As many as ten percent of teenagers suffer from clinical depression and large numbers of high-school students report that they have considered suicide. This timely and useful book examines dark moods and mental illness, and gives young people tools for coping, plus advice on when, where, and how to get help.

When Nothing Matters Anymore: a Survival Guide for Depressed Teens. Bev Cobain, $17.50

When Nothing Matters Anymore has already helped countless teens and now, in its newly revised edition, it promises to help even more. With updated information on medications, nutrition, counseling options, resources When Nothing Matters Anymore is a powerful support and tool for change.

If your depression keeps coming back or is even getting worse, then you may be suffering from bipolar II or “soft” bipolar disorder. Commonly misdiagnosed, these mood disorders are characterized by recurring bouts of depression along with anxiety, irritability, mood swings, sleep problems, or intrusive thoughts. Why Am I Still Depressed shows you how to identify if you have a non-manic form of bipolar disorder and how to work with your doctor to safely and effectively treat it.

Writing through the Darkness: Easing Your Depression with Paper and Pen. Elizabeth Maynard Schaefer, $17.95

Writing through the Darkness is a practical and supportive guide to using creative writing exercises to ease the pain of depression. Practical how-to discussions and plentiful exercises demonstrate how writing can help those with depression modulate their moods and develop greater insight into their symptoms.

Young Misery: a Guide for Parents and Professionals. David Palframan, $21.95

A child and family psychiatrist discusses child and youth depression—how to identify it, and how to cope. A guide for parents and professionals.