Susan J. Noonan - Take Control of Your Depression: Strategies to Help You Feel Better Now

Take Control of Your Depression

A Johns Hopkins Press Health Book

Strategies to Help You Feel Better Now

Susan J. Noonan, MD, MPH

Foreword by Jerrold F. Rosenbaum, MD, and Timothy J. Petersen, PhD

2018 Johns Hopkins University Press
All rights reserved. Published 2018
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Johns Hopkins University Press
2715 North Charles Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21218-4363
www.press.jhu.edu

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Noonan, Susan J., 1953 author.

Title: Take control of your depression : strategies to help you feel better now / Susan J. Noonan, MD, MPH ; foreword by Jerrold F. Rosenbaum, MD, and Timothy J. Petersen, PhD.

Description: Baltimore : Johns Hopkins University Press, 2018. | Series: A Johns Hopkins Press health book | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2017056664 | ISBN 9781421426303 (hardcover : alk. paper) | ISBN 1421426285 (hardcover : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781421426297 (paperback : alk. paper) | ISBN 1421426293 (paperback : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781421426303 (electronic) | ISBN 1421426307 (electronic)

Subjects: LCSH: Depression, MentalPopular works. | Depression, MentalTreatment.

Classification: LCC RC537.N6625 2018 | DDC 616.85/27dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017056664

A catalog record for this book is available from the British Library.

Special discounts are available for bulk purchases of this book. For more information, please contact Special Sales at 410-516-6936 or .

Johns Hopkins University Press uses environmentally friendly book materials, including recycled text paper that is composed of at least 30 percent post-consumer waste, whenever possible.

Note to the reader: The information in this book should by no means be considered a substitute for the advice of qualified medical professionals. Mental diseases and disorders have a wide range of symptoms and clinical presentations. You should always consult qualified medical professionals for the diagnosis and treatment of mental diseases and disorders. All efforts have been made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this book as of the date of publication. The author and the publisher expressly disclaim responsibility for any adverse outcomes arising from the use or application of the information contained herein.

If you are thinking about suicide, you should immediately contact your health care provider, go to the nearest Emergency Department, or call 9-1-1.

Tables

The Basics of Mental Health

Strategies to Help You Follow a Healthy Diet

Sleep Hygiene

Western Diet versus Mediterranean Diet

USDA 20152020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans

Sample Food Serving Sizes: What One Serving Looks Like

Get Started with Exercise and Keep It Going

Components of Aerobic Exercise

Components of Resistance Exercise

Examples of Aerobic Exercise Intensity

Criteria for Depression

Criteria of Mania

Definitions of Antidepressant Treatment Responses

Whos Who in an Outpatient Depression Treatment Team

Managing Depression and Bipolar Disorder

Types of Distorted Thinking

More Ways to Challenge and Change Your Thinking

Coping Strategies

Assertiveness

Listening

Evaluating Health Information on the Internet

Classifying Web Addresses: Clues in the Name

Helpful Websites

Some Medications Used Alone or in Combination for Depression, Bipolar Disorder, Anxiety, and Sleep

Worksheets

Sleep Diary

Activities, Exercise, and People You Enjoy

Daily Schedule

Symptoms of Depression

Symptoms of Elevated Mood

Mood Chart

Strengths and Weaknesses Exercise

About Me

Personal Preferences Exercise

Sample Completed Action Plan for Relapse Prevention

Action Plan for Relapse Prevention Blank Form

Mood and Thought Monitoring Exercise

Evidence For and Against Form

Understanding the Origins of Your Thoughts

Examples of Pleasurable Activities

Pleasure and Mastery Exercise

Despite many recent advances in options for assessment and treatment, depression remains a significant worldwide health problem. In the United States alone, up to 15 percent of individuals will suffer from depression at some point in their lifetime. Depression is now viewed as most often a recurrent illness, which requires lifelong management strategies.

The toll that depression exacts is massive, not only for the suffering individual but also for friends and family members. Many individuals diagnosed with depression are unable to work for periods of time, resulting in associated loss of productivity and disability. Rates of response to first-line treatments, while improved, remain unsatisfyingly low. Often a depressed individual requires a series of treatments before arriving at an acceptable therapeutic outcome. With the recent development of novel, cutting-edge interventions, the landscape of treatment options has become more complex. There are innovative therapeutics and novel targets on the horizon but, as yet a long-term aspiration, there is not personalized treatment selection soon to be available: thus, treatment will continue to require persistence and creativity on a patient-by-patient basis until relief is attained.

Susan J. Noonan, in this outstanding, updated edition of her 2013 book Managing Your Depression, tackles the challenge of providing to the general public a volume that provides a comprehensive how to guide for understanding and managing depression. Most impressive is the breadth of topics covered and pragmatic suggestions that will help engender hope that depression is a treatable illness. Among topics covered include behavioral strategies that are a core component of an overall depression treatment plan, cognitive strategies that are effective in talking back to negative thoughts, tips for accessing and maintaining an effective treatment team, effective ways to interact with loved ones during an episode of depression, and relapse prevention strategies.

Dr. Noonans journey has been an inspiration to us at the Massachusetts General Hospital Department of Psychiatry. She has tirelessly proceeded through numerous psychosocial and medication treatments and has taught us much about perseverance, thinking outside the box, and the importance of not accepting anything short of becoming well. This volume, along with her other published works and speaking engagements, offers information and guidance that undoubtedly will help those suffering with depression.

Jerrold F. Rosenbaum, MD

Chief of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital

Stanley Cobb Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School

Timothy J. Petersen, PhD

Clinical Psychologist, Massachusetts General Hospital

Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School

This book is dedicated to a team of exceptional people who have made my life and this project possible. The superior clinical skills, extraordinary kindness, understanding, and perseverance of these professionals have been invaluable and have kept hope alive for me when I believed there was none. I owe my deepest thanks and gratitude to Drs. Andrew Nierenberg, Jonathan Alpert, Timothy Petersen, and Karen Carlson.