The Secret Strength of Depression, Third Revised Edition, by Frederic Flach. Long Island City, NY: Hatherleigh Press; 2002. 279 pages, softcover, $15.95.

In the third, revised edition of The Secret Strength of Depression, psychiatrist Frederic Flach offers his distinct and interesting viewpoint regarding depression, including what it is, and what can be done about it. The core purpose of the book is to help people who are depressed, in efforts to overcome depression, and to recognize the positive role that depression can play in a person's life. Indeed, the "secret strength" of depression, as Flach envisions it, is that if a depressed person knows how to manage depression successfully, he or she, in some sense, can be more of a person for having done so. Successful management of depression can potentially engender, for instance, feelings of competency and empowerment. Flach wishes to encourage depressed people to recognize and accept depression without shame, with hope, and with the realization that refusing to acknowledge being depressed, rather than depression itself, is the real illness.

All persons suffering from depression certainly have much to learn from this riveting book. Flach is a fine writer, who, in straightforward, lay-reader-friendly fashion, explains how to manage depression and how to recover from it. Employing a clear style of writing, Flach does a very good job of disentangling at least some of the roots of the knotty, complex subject of depression. A strong undercurrent of sympathy for persons suffering from depression flows through the pages of the book. Flach's distinctive framework of thinking about depression, presented in an uplifting, inspiring way and fleshed out with a great amount of practical advice, insights, and information, surely should help persons suffering from depression.

The topics addressed in the book are substantial in number and dealt with in a relatively elementary way. Targeting lay people, not academics or professionals, Flach, in a helpful, understandable manner, addresses a multitude of topics, including for example: common "traps" that may self-destructively entrap people in depression; recognizing depression; antidepressant medications; psychotherapy; guilt; aggression and anger; dependency; posttraumatic stress disorder; spirituality and depression; and depression in children and the elderly. Numerous, brief anecdotes involving real-life patients are used very effectively by Flach as an educational tool to illustrate many of the issues raised in the book.

Prospective readers should recognize that research exploration of depression is ongoing, including biologic and psychotherapeutic approaches to treatment, and that information and insights relevant to the diagnosis and treatment of depression continue to emerge. Also, readers of the book should not misuse the contents as a substitute for expert assessment by medical professionals of possible mental illness and physical illness. With these warnings, it is quite appropriate to recommend this outstanding book to all persons with a serious interest in learning about depression.