Review of Jane Ferber's A Woman Doctor's Guide to Depression"

In this book, Dr. Ferber presents a detailed look at depression as a disease, the factors that influence or contribute to its development, and ways to treat it. She opens a book with four cases of women of different social, ethnic, and financial background all suffering from depression, to show that the disease influences people indiscriminately and can express itself in more than one set of symptoms.

In Chapter 1, Dr. Ferber presents the symptoms of depression, such as somatic, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral changes, and discusses the demographics of the disease, such as heredity, age, and gender. In Chapter 2, Dr. Ferber goes deeper into the social consequences of the disease. She discusses in depth how people often willingly and unwillingly confuse depression's symptoms with some other illnesses. She also mentions that people tend to hide the fact that they are depressed because they feel it will adversely influence their personal relationships and professional opportunities. Dr. Ferber proceeds to describe medical specialists available to help people with depression, as well as gives two lists: one of symptoms that should not be associated with depression, and another of medications that can cause depression-like symptoms. She completes the chapter by describing the types of depression presently diagnosed, such as major depression, dysthymia, seasonal affective disorder, premenstrual dysphoric disorder, postpartum depression, and bipolar disorder.

In Chapter 3, the author concentrates on where depression originates in the body and how the changes in the body's chemical balance influence its various functions. She presents a detailed description of the brain structure and chemistry, and how it operates through the use of synapses of the nervous cells that connect each part of the brain to its other parts and to the rest of the body. Dr. Ferber then goes on to describe how the biochemical components produced by the body's endocrine system, or neurotransmitters, influence the operation of the nerve cells, describing each of the three neurotransmitters-serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine-separately and in detail. The author continues by giving examples of acute physical reactions to emotions and says that there exists a direct connection between the nervous system and the immune system, studied by a medical science called psychoneuroimmunology. This connection, apparently, works both ways, and the body that is tired from, for example, strenuous physical work or lack of sleep, produces an appropriate reaction in the nervous system resulting in such symptoms as irritation, unexplainable sadness, and even depression. The author completes the chapter by talking about how to spot the signs that a depressed person has lost the will to live and how best to prevent suicide.

In Chapter 4, Dr. Ferber concentrates on the ways depression influences modern women and the factors that influence the development of the disease. Even though the 21^st-century women finds themselves in a much better position in all social aspects than their predecessors, there are still plenty of factors, the author says, that can push a woman into depression. The likelihood of this depends on a number of aspects, such as the woman's feeling of self-esteem, style of coping with daily stress, her hormonal makeup and physiology, and social circumstances in which she finds herself on a day-to-day basis. Dr. Ferber than proceeds with a detailed analysis of a woman's life, splitting a lifespan into distinct periods, beginning with adolescence, the upcoming of puberty and menstruation, the late teenage years and the twenties and search of personal identity, the uncertainty of the thirties with their difficult decisions concerning personal and professional life, the "consolidation" of personal identity and associated choices in the forties, and coping with aging, menopause, and other issues associated with the later stages of life.

In Chapter 5, Dr. Ferber concentrates on treatment options for depression, such as antidepressants and antianxiety medications. Before going on a substance-by-substance analysis, the author advises the audience to consult both the psychiatric professional and a regular physician before even thinking about undergoing treatment with medications. At the end of the chapter, the author discusses electroconvulsive, or shock, therapy, but does not generally recommend it.

In Chapter 6, Dr. Ferber discusses the non-medication options of treatment of depression, namely psychotherapy. It goes into detailed description of steps that need to be taken for such therapy to be effective, such as identifying sources of stress and unhappiness, making an accurate appraisal of the current situation, setting realistic goals, identifying source of support and learning to use them, and regaining self-esteem. The author proceeds to describe various types of psychotherapy, such as, among other, psychodynamic therapy, behavioral therapy, and interpersonal therapy, and stressing the importance of choosing the right one to fit each individual woman's needs. Finally in Chapter 7, Dr. Ferber stresses that it is important to face the battle with depression with optimism, as it is the first and most important step on achieving a cure.

I am sure there are thousands, if not millions, of women who would find Dr. Ferber's information highly enlightening and helpful to them. Many women cannot afford the services of a psychiatrist or other doctors, and this book possesses enough of an element of self-help to be of use to those women who are limited in their options in their struggle with depression. The book is too general to benefit a specific group of women particularly well, but I still recommend it because it offers more information on the symptoms of depression, which would allow women to identify their own health using the examples in the book. Thus, this book eliminates what in my opinion is one of the most important factors of the development of depression, which is insecurity.