Winston Churchill, who suffered from depression all of his life, referred to it as the Black Dog. This book is a simple guide to managing this common condition of depression.
'I Had a Black Dog says with wit, insight, economy and complete understanding what other books take 300 pages to say. Brilliant and indispensable.' - Stephen Fry 'Finally, a book about depression that isn't a prescriptive self-help manual. Johnston's deftly expresses how lonely and isolating depression can be for sufferers. Poignant and humorous in equal measure.' Sunday Times There are many different breeds of Black Dog affecting millions of people from all walks of life. The Black Dog is an equal opportunity mongrel. It was Winston Churchill who popularized the phrase Black Dog to describe the bouts of depression he experienced for much of his life. Matthew Johnstone, a sufferer himself, has written and illustrated this moving and uplifting insight into what it is like to have a Black Dog as a companion and how he learned to tame it and bring it to heel.
This self help manual is for those for whom depression arises from the impact of exceptional circumstances such as childbirth and menopause, commercial and professional failure, accident, grief, divorce or debt as well as for those more permanent owners of the Black Dog. Contents: 1. Preface; 2. Your first step; 3. Medication; 4. Causes; 5. Manage your life; 6. Repulsing attacks; 7. Habits for repairing damage; 8. Utilising your subconscious computer; 9. Praying; 10. Vitality; 11. Sleeping; 12. Healthy eating; 13. Alcohol; 14. Fitness
'An excellent book, the most objective short account I know of all the various approaches to depression.' Anthony Storr Several years ago, Lewis Wolpert had a severe episode of depression. Despite a happy marriage and successful scientific career, he could think only of suicide. When he did recover, he became aware of the stigma attached to depression - and just how difficult it was to get reliable information. With characteristic candour and determination he set about writing this book, an acclaimed investigation into the causes and treatments of depression, which formed the basis for a BBC TV series. This paperback edition features a new introduction, in which Wolpert discusses the reaction to his book and BBC series, and recounts his own recurring struggle with depression.
Depression can be a dark and lonely experience: sharing with a friend can make all the difference. In Journeys with the Black Dog many people share their stories of living with depression. Personal stories of first symptoms, the path to getting diagnosed, the confusion and frustration, and all the many ways of keeping depression at bay - whatever it takes. Written with raw honesty and sharp humour, these stories demonstrate it is possible to gain control over depression. Journeys with the Black Dog is genuinely inspiring reading for anyone who suffers from depression and those who care for them.
Tucked away in Siberia, there are furry, four-legged creatures with wagging tails and floppy ears that are as docile and friendly as any lapdog. But, despite appearances, these are not dogs—they are foxes. They are the result of the most astonishing experiment in breeding ever undertaken—imagine speeding up thousands of years of evolution into a few decades. In 1959, biologists Dmitri Belyaev and Lyudmila Trut set out to do just that, by starting with a few dozen silver foxes from fox farms in the USSR and attempting to recreate the evolution of wolves into dogs in real time in order to witness the process of domestication. This is the extraordinary, untold story of this remarkable undertaking. Most accounts of the natural evolution of wolves place it over a span of about 15,000 years, but within a decade, Belyaev and Trut’s fox breeding experiments had resulted in puppy-like foxes with floppy ears, piebald spots, and curly tails. Along with these physical changes came genetic and behavioral changes, as well. The foxes were bred using selection criteria for tameness, and with each generation, they became increasingly interested in human companionship. Trut has been there the whole time, and has been the lead scientist on this work since Belyaev’s death in 1985, and with Lee Dugatkin, biologist and science writer, she tells the story of the adventure, science, politics, and love behind it all. In How to Tame a Fox, Dugatkin and Trut take us inside this path-breaking experiment in the midst of the brutal winters of Siberia to reveal how scientific history is made and continues to be made today. To date, fifty-six generations of foxes have been domesticated, and we continue to learn significant lessons from them about the genetic and behavioral evolution of domesticated animals. How to Tame a Fox offers an incredible tale of scientists at work, while also celebrating the deep attachments that have brought humans and animals together throughout time.
The fully revised, expanded and updated edition of Bev Aisbett's bestselling guide to overcoming depression, Taming the Black Dog First published in 2000, Bev Aisbett's classic, simple and easy-to-follow guide to overcoming depression Taming the Black Dog has sold over 220,000 copies and helped thousands of people manage their depression. Now expanded and fully revised, this updated edition of Taming the Black Dog features Bev Aisbett's unique blend of information, humour and clear, simple and practical advice. It is an invaluable guide and source of information for both chronic sufferers of depression as well as anyone with a fit of 'the blues'. Over 1 in 5 people will suffer some form of depression at some point in their lives, so Taming the Black Dog is a more important resource than ever before.
From bestselling author Bev Aisbett comes a proven, practical and simple workbook to help people manage their depression, with a month's worth of daily strategies and exercises for work and for home. When you're suffering from depression, sometimes it's as much as you can do to get out of bed, let alone read a book. But this just isn't any other book. This is a practical day-by-day workbook, with clear, simple daily building blocks and exercises designed to help pull you out of the inertia of depression. It's a highly approachable, concise and above all practical way to help manage depression. Featuring all-new material from experienced counsellor and bestselling author of the self-help classics Living with IT and Taming the Black Dog, Bev Aisbett has based this book on many of the exercises she has been teaching and writing about for the past twenty years to help people manage their depression.
July 1964. Chartwell House, Kent: Winston Churchill wakes at dawn. There’s a dark, mute “presence” in the room that focuses on him with rapt concentration. It’s Mr. Chartwell. Soon after, in London, Esther Hammerhans, a librarian at the House of Commons, goes to answer the door to her new lodger. Through the glass she sees a vast silhouette the size of a mattress. It’s Mr. Chartwell. Charismatic, dangerously seductive, Mr. Chartwell unites the eminent statesman at the end of his career and the vulnerable young woman. But can they withstand Mr. Chartwell’s strange, powerful charms and his stranglehold on their lives? Can they even explain who or what he is and why he has come to visit? In this utterly original, moving, funny, and exuberant novel, Rebecca Hunt explores how two unlikely lives collide as Mr. Chartwell’s motives are revealed to be far darker and deeper than they at first seem.