This is a self-help book for people who suffer from depression. In everyday language, we sometimes say we're depressed when we're sad or something, but there are people for whom it's much more serious, who are feeling "down" more or less regularly, so that it seriously interferes with their life.
Dr. Robertson explains how that more or less permament kind of depression is caused by the imbalance of certain substances in the brain. According to the book, people can be divided in two types which have quite different brain chemistries, resulting in quite different personalities and lifestyle choices. Both can get depressed, but their depressions are of a very different nature. Dr. Robertson explains in detailed but accessible manner what is going on in a person's brain in each case. There is also a test to determine which type you might be.
Actually, getting to know about the very existence of that other type of people was a huge revelation for me. Thanks to Dr. Robertson, I can now understand many people much better than I used to.
The advice section of the book is mostly divided in two, according to the respective type of depression. The two seem to be similarly structured. I read just "my" half of it and it's no good at all. Dr. Robertson's numerous lifestyle tips tend to be common-sense and of very limited usefulness. For instance, have you ever heard that exercise is healthy? Or what good is the advice that one will feel better if one has found a sense of purpose? To say such a platitude to a depressed person is obvious mockery, like when a homeless person is in the pouring rain and you tell him that it might be a good idea to go indoors.
I won't waste your time with numerous objections I wrote on the pages of my copy of the book while reading, as they would make sense only to someone who has read the book. Let me just tell you that many of those spontaneous comments go along the lines "so what?", "it's easy for you to say", "fine, but what can I do about it?" and "HOW????". Quite a few things he suggests I am doing already and they have been of no help.
On pp 163-164, you can see a summary of Dr. Robertson's advice on healing one of the two kinds of depression. Every item of that "program" is either obvious ("avoid the television"), impossible to do ("develop a stronger sense of self"), or already done by me for a long time in vain ("writing daily in a journal").
In particular, the nutrition advice in this book (published in 1997) is badly flawed and outdated. Even more absurd are Mr. Robertson's suggestions how one or another type of music is supposed to affect people's mood. Some small children believe that when they close their eyes, the entire world goes dark. Dr. Robertson apparently believes that if Chopin's music makes him feel good, it makes every other human being feel good too.
From the positive side, I should mention that I sent the author a question about something I found puzzling in this book, and I was somewhat surprised to receive a clear and sensible explanation. So, the author seems to be a nice and intelligent person. That, unfortunately, doesn't change the fact that this book could have been much better.
What my good rating is for is an awesome writing exercise described in this book. I've been doing a lot of journalling for 20+ years, which is why I was very skeptical about it, but that particular exercise turned out to be really good. I was totally stuck in my personal development. Methods that I had been praising in my earlier reviews just wouldn't help me any further. I was seriously considering psychotherapy. But that writing exercise helped me put my life back on track.
To be precise, the exercise is from another book and Dr. Robertson describes it very briefly. But that's all you need in order to do the exercise. I browsed the other book and found it really unnecessary.
I should also mention that at the end of the book, there is a questionnaire which the readers are encouraged to fill out and send (with money) to the Robertson Insitute for evaluation. I asked them and they told me that that offer was no longer valid. You can only get the evaluation through a certified therapist or something.
After (or even instead of) this book, you might want to check out "The Edge Effect" by Eric Braverman. It's about brain chemistry and neurotransmitters in general, not just depression. However, that's the book in which I found practical advice which I have applied to come out of my depression. (But that's a long story which doesn't belong in this review.)
