I only wish I had read this book when I was twenty, when I was first told to expect to have recurrent episodes of severe depression for the rest of my life, rather than now, at fifty-five. Since my diagnosis I've been reading everything I can get my hands on, and trying everything. Lots of things have been helpful, some haven't, but this beats the lot. It's all here: why people can get depressed, in terms of the evolution of the species, the development of the individual and his or her situation; and, in very concrete practical and sensible terms, what you can do about it. It pulled together a lot of what I'd found out from other sources. Obviously, it's different strokes for different folks, but for me this was a real find.