Depression can be overcome. It is not a permanent, life-long state. Yet it is not simply a passing phase resulting from insufficient willpower. It is an illness and it needs to be treated. This practical guidebook not only answers all your questions about depression, it provides a method that shows you how to change your vision of yourself and of the world.

The questions addressed here: What sort of treatment is best for your particular case? Should you be afraid of taking antidepressants? Is there a risk of addiction? Is psychotherapy more effective than medication? Why are you depressed? Should you take sick leave, or is it preferable to carry on working? What should you tell your family, friends and colleagues?

The method: How to fight against depression by altering your day-by-day behaviour and by modifying your negative thoughts, in order to overcome depression and to avoid falling ill again.

This is the paperback edition of a book that was originally published in the well-regarded self-help series (Les Guides pour s'aider soi-même). It offers a step-by-step therapeutic method to enable you to work on yourself to overcome depression.

Christine Mirabel-Sarron is a medical psychiatrist at Hôpital Sainte-Anne, Paris, where she heads the behavioural and cognitive therapy unit. She holds a doctorate in pathological and clinical psychology and teaches at the Universities of Paris-V and VIII.