The 6 Best Books on Depression for Men

If you've found this page then I'm guessing you already know what depression is and how debilitating, life-wrecking and hard to conquer it can be. Despite these "depressing" facts about depression, we can help ourselves to overcome depression, low mood and anxiety by making the most of the vast amounts of knowledge available to us.

The following books on depression are all extremely well written in easy to read language and have been helpful to many men who want to improve their mental health.

Books From Mental Health Professionals

Each book is written by highly experienced professionals in the field of mental health who work with depression and depressed individuals every day. They know intimately what works to help depression and what hinders recovery. Take their advice on board and who knows, maybe you will beat depression once and for all.

Fortunately, nobody is alone and more and more people are recognizing the need to take the matter of depression seriously. The following titles are the six best books on depression and while not expressly written for men each has the potential to be a lantern in the tenacious darkness that is depression.

They offer practical help and guidance for those who need it and educate other people on what they can do to help the depressed individuals in their lives. These depression self help books will enable you to start taking charge of your depression today.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy or CBT is a psychotherapeutic approach that involves changing negative patterns of behaviour and thought to treat psychological disorders, such as depression. Overcoming Depression is a must have for your bookshelf and reflects over ten years of new research on understanding and treating depression, incorporating CBT into a self-help guide. While other books on depression are conveniently qualitative, this book is scientifically grounded but surprisingly easy to read.

Author Paul Gilbert outlines the CBT-based program in a user-friendly, step-by-step system which includes case studies and practical ideas that will help sufferers of depression to take control of their lives. This is a simple and practical guide for the depressed, their friends and families, and is a must have reference for anyone who is touched by depression.

You must have this book in your collection of depression self help books. Manage Your Mood is based on Behavioral Activation techniques, which are an offshoot of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. This therapy for depression and low mood focuses on scheduling activities that depressed patients have been avoiding. Written by leading clinicians Dr. David Veale and cognitive behavioral therapist Rob Wilson, this book shows how Behavioral Activation Techniques analyse, challenge, and change the typical behaviors of the depressed, such as avoidance and excessive worrying.

To encourage you on your journey, worksheets and practical problem-solving techniques are included along with the featured step-by-step approach to analyzing and changing behaviors. A detailed explanation of depression plus associated behaviors and case studies make this a thorough depression self-help book suitable for anyone.

From psychotherapist Richard O’ Connor, Undoing Depression is an unpretentious, straightforward book on depression that has gained the respect and praise of people everywhere. Here, the author strips down depression and shows it as simply driven by genetic, biochemical and environmental factors. He then proceeds to focus on a factor that has been constantly overlooked: our own habits. With this book, O’Connor teaches us to replace depressive patterns with a new and effective set of skills.

While other books on depression teach us how to deal with it, Undoing teaches us how to undo depression completely. This is highly recommended for anyone suffering from depression as it is very personal in its approach, but holistic in its solution. No therapy, no medication— just purely enlightening and inspirational.

Four experts come together and bring this book that brings power to the depressed mind. In true East meets West fashion, meditation is utilized in breaking the dark cycle of chronic unhappiness by sidestepping bad mental habits like rumination and self-blame.

Done properly, the book shows that mindfulness in an individual will prevent and treat depression. As a result, the person emerges more resilient, able to handle challenges as they come. In an accompanying CD, one of the authors, Jon Kabat-Zinn encouragingly narrates guided meditations for a complete package of hope and psychological well-being.

These days, it seems medicine is the easy way out for every ache and pain. While depression may have a physiological cause that requires taking prescribed drugs, there is something we can do to combat the full descent of depression without their help. The Depression Cure is a six-step program in beating depression sans medications.

Inspired by aboriginal groups like Kaluli of Papua New Guinea, author Dr. Ilardi illustrates that the answer is simply going back to the basics. Basically, the home remedy of a good-night’s sleep, a well-balanced diet and even an active lifestyle does more to benefit a depressed individual than any drug known to man. Ilardi’s program even works on individuals who have failed to respond to traditional medications. If you want to beat depression without drugs this is the best book on depression for you.

While women are known to be more prone to depression than men, the results of untreated depression in men are more shocking than in women. This is because men are less likely to admit feeling depressed and are less willing to seek help. I Don’t Want to Talk About It is perhaps one of the most interesting books on depression because it tackles the conventional belief that “boys don’t cry” and exposes its effect on men and society in general.

The content’s autobiographical thread focuses on the author’s main concern: covert depression which is a painful, incipient stage that may erupt into overt depression. The title may seem completely pour homme but the arresting details gives a universal view on depression that caters to all genders.

There is no specific formula for curing depression. Depression will always be relative to the person experiencing it and in a way that is a good thing. These books on depression teach us how to deal with it the best way we can and according to who we are. They may be different in their approach but they all give the readers the same thing: hope and the knowledge that whatever it is that is dragging them down, there is a way to cut the ropes and be ultimately free from the heaviness within.