Have you got the blues with a lack of purpose?

I heard some bad news at one of my old friends’ wedding that a classmate committed suicide. People said that it might have been all about depression. We were not close friends but the bad news reminded me of the friend’s giggles and smiles when we had fun at a playing ground, leaving me with indescribable feelings.

Not every depression patient ends their own life but some attempt to do so. The author has attempted suicide several times, suffering two decades’ depression, seven years’ social withdrawal and 10 years’ suicidal attempts. The author records long-year fight against depression in this book. As the author puts it, the depressed live in a “terminal illness” because they do not know when they give up on their life.

However, it is okay to stay positive. Humanity has invented effective tools and built upon an ample amount of knowledge regarding anti-depression drugs and counseling therapy. Even if you do not visit a doctor, you can have easy access to helpful books to gain a better understanding about depression.

This book provides you a window into the state of being depressed, sharing empathy toward those mentally depressed, unlike other books with focus on delivering knowledge. The author gives you candid opinions based on long years of personal experience. The book honestly covers suicidal attempts, self-harm and family episodes. It was the author’s strong will to overcome depression without any treatment even in difficult situations. Nevertheless, it does not mean that this book is mistrustful of modern medicine. Although not having sought medical help for some reasons, the author recommends counseling a medical professional, advising that your family has a role to play in encouraging therapy if you do not want to get some help on your own.

The focal point of this book is sharing self-healing experience with the help of drugs and medical intervention. For example, you may go to a grocery store and buy three items; wander about a library; being a goof with free-of-charge films on TV; taking hands-on programs run by municipal authorities. Depression is a social taboo in South Korea but the author says that you may get less depressed merely by having open discussion on how people feel.

To add up, this book gives you advice on what family and friends can do to help people with depression stand back on their feet. It advises them not to cross the line and to take care of themselves. The author asks patients with depression to stay determined to looking at their life from a positive viewpoint. Ending your life is no different than killing your family. Pain and suffering do not disappear but are passed on to the bereaved. That is why we should keep life going on and enjoy every single moment of the rest of our lifetime. We are supposed to do so.