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Rating: 
Summary: Strongly biased...
Review: As someone who suffers periodically from depression, I've read a fair number of books and articles about the subject and I have to say I was not very impressed by Charles Whitfield's "The Truth About Depression." The title suggests that this is going to be a balanced overview of possible treatments for depression, but in fact Whitfield has a very strong bias that permeates the entire book.
Simply put, the man does not like medication.
Now, I sympathize with his arguments against the drug industry... it's undoubtedly true that drug companies are looking to make a profit and, in that pursuit, push doctors to prescribe their products. It is also true that SOME doctors tend to over-prescribe and don't spend enough time trying to understand the source of a person's depression. But, this does NOT mean that prescription medication doesn't have an important role to play in fighting depression.
Whitfield tries to make the case that there's little-to-no evidence to suggest that medication is ever effective, and that's just plain wrong. A much more balanced and educational book on this subject is "Listening to Prozac," which takes an informed look at the pro's and con's of taking medication for psychological problems.
In the never-ending debate about the role of nature vs. nurture in causing depression, Whitfield goes waaaay too far in blaming childhood trauma. Not everyone who is depressed suffered a childhood trauma. He tries to define trauma so loosely that 99% of us could say, "Oh, yeah, I guess I was traumatized!" but he is not convincing.
There is a genetic dimension to depression and his complete denial of that fact is harmful for those who are trying to understand and fight against their depression. Yes, proper counselling is important and it is also important to look at childhood traumas. No question about it. But Whitfield goes way too far in placing the blame entirely on trauma and ignoring the potentially helpful role of medication.
A much more balanced and informative book on the subject of depression is DePaulo's "Understanding Depression: What We Know and What You Can Do About It." DePaulo looks at the role of trauma, genetics, and various other factors in causing depression to surface and is much more open-minded in looking at possible treatments.
Rating: 
Summary: First impression
Review: Dear Charlie,I stopped taking the book so personally at the end of chapter 9, and moved on to the expose' of the industry. Beyond that, I am reading the section about alternative approaches to healing, including bibliotherapy. If I understand this correctly, this book is meant to move readers in a personal healing. Thus, if other readers are being caught off balance by the brain damage evidence (59% of readers?)... then these readers in particular are poised to experience righteous anger at the drug companies. After the shock of realizing they may be physically damaged as well as emotionally, psychologically and spiritually damaged, I bet these readers are hopping mad to read about industry practices. It is quite the book, I must say. Thanks for an amazing book. Robynne Moran
Rating:
Summary: Whitfield does it again!
Review: Every book Charles Whitfield MD writes is clear and filled with information that you can't normally get from your own physician. He understands clearly the relationship between childhood trauma and why we are the way we are today. Here's a physician who hasn't bought the partyline opinion. He thinks for himself and willingly shares with his reading audience what he thinks. And, in this book he shares hundreds of peer-reviewed studies to back up his opinion. Good for him for showing us the way out of depression!
Rating:
Summary: A Healing Resource
Review: I am impressed with every aspect of this work, from the concise writing style--which makes this book so useful to virtually anyone who acquires it--through content, layout, and a most remarkable array of references. "The Truth about Depression" will be a resource that I will use time and again in my writing and research. In September, I will eagerly look to find "The Truth about Mental Illness" on the market.
Rating:
Summary: "The Truth About Depression" is my truth
Review: I wish I had read this book years ago. It would have saved me thousands of dollars, hundreds of hours of go-no-where-therapy, and it would have given me a more real name for my so-called disease.
I was diagnosed with major depression almost a decade ago.
Doctors prescribed a string of antidepressants with no luck.
The side effects were painful and my depression continued.
There was a time, while taking Paxil, that I was suicidal most every day.
I tried Paxil, Prozac, Zoloft, Trazadone, and Wellbutrin, and none worked. The theory was that I had to keep trying until I hit the right pill. I felt victimized and misunderstood by my otherwise well-intentioned doctors.
From reading The Truth about Depression I learned that I had to grieve the pain of my losses instead of medicating them and share that pain with safe people. It has taken a lot of work and courage to face my pain. It was not an instant fix, but it has worked.
I have instead, grieved, gone through my sadness and eventually found some peace.
If I had medicated my grieving, I would have masked the pain with chemicals.
This book offers a revolutionary approach to chronic sadness that sheds light on an obscure disease and gives hope. I am not on antidepressants, do not have their bothersome side effects, and I am getting better.
The negative words below by GLBT ("Strongly biased") reflect how the drug industry and psychiatry have manipulated the public into believing their unproven claims about depression and other mental disorders. For more accuracy, check the other reviews below and the strong endorsements in the book.
Rating:
Summary: A Must Read For Depression!
Review: In The Truth about Depression, Charles Whitfield makes a clear and compelling case for childhood trauma's undeniable link to childhood and adult depression and outlines a no nonsense, non-drug treatment strategy that works. For clinicians wishing to gain added understanding of depression's root cause and for depressed people, including their family members, wishing to speed their recovery ... this book is a must read.
This is the most "readable" volume on unresolved childhood trauma's link to depression in print today. Robert J. Woodson, Ph.D. Santa Barbara, California
Rating: 
Summary: Is he insinuating we "choose" depression?!?
Review: This is a sad commentary on such a serious subject.
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