Things are not all they seem. This is a book about how depression can have benefits as well as costs, and how to reap those benefits while making yourself feel better—better, in fact, than ever before.

Healing is not the same as curing. Curing implies returning to the status quo, whereas healing implies moving beyond it. This book's purpose is not merely to make you feel better, but better than ever before, by increasing your resilience and openness to life.

You have, in some sense, embarked on the mythical hero's journey. Despite being ill-fated, despite starting out as a victim and underdog, the hero is able to rise up to life and experience it in its fullness, rather than merely suffer or survive it and occasionally drink its dregs like so many of us do.

In myth, the hero has to travel through hell, or deep into the forest or labyrinth, before slaying the monster and re-emerging as a hero. If your depression is the journey through the Inferno, then let this book be your guiding Virgil. If your depression is the descent into the Cretan labyrinth, then let this book be Ariadne's ball of red thread.

A comprehensive, sympathetic, and thought-provoking guide for those who want to explore their depression in more depth. —The British Journal of Psychiatry

This book brings understanding and encourages independent solutions. It is remarkable in its shortness and practicality. —The British Medical Association Book Awards

Burton's writing blends deep knowledge of his subject with lively anecdote and a genuine concern for how we might draw on the insights of psychology and philosophy to live a better life. Highly recommended! —Gareth Southwell, philosopher and writer

About the author

Dr Neel Burton is a psychiatrist, philosopher, and wine-lover who lives and teaches in Oxford, England. He is a Fellow of Green-Templeton College in the University of Oxford, and the recipient of the Society of Authors' Richard Asher Prize, the British Medical Association's Young Authors' Award, the Medical Journalists' Association Open Book Award, and a Best in the World Gourmand Award. His work has featured in the likes of Aeon, The Spectator, and The Times, and been translated into several languages.

◆ Grab your copy now for a new and powerful way of looking at depression.

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