Book Review – Downcast
Image: Downcast by Len Lantz (CC BY-NC-ND)
Synopsis: Len's Star Rating: 8 out of 10. A comprehensive book on depression written by psychiatrists from a Christian perspective.
BY LEN LANTZ, MD / 12.11.2021; No. 59
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Star Rating – 8 out of 10
Rating guide: 1 = horrible, 5 = average and 10 = wow
Authors
Jennifer Huang Harris, Harold Koenig, John Peteet
About the authors
Jennifer Huang Harris, MD, is a psychiatrist at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, MA, and an instructor at Harvard Medical School.
Harold Koenig, MD, is a psychiatrist with additional training in geriatrics and author of dozens of books and hundreds of peer-reviewed research articles on the interface of health and spirituality. Dr. Koenig is the founding Co-Director of Duke’s Center for Spirituality, Theology, and Health and is a Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and Associate Professor of Medicine at Duke.
John Peteet, MD, is a psychiatrist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, MA, an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, author of numerous research articles on the topics of psychosocial oncology, addiction, and the clinical interface between spirituality and psychiatry, and author/co-editor of eight books.
General description
Downcast is a Christian book on depression published by the Christian Medical & Dental Association, an organization founded in 1931 to provide “resources, networking opportunities, education and a public voice for Christian healthcare professionals and students.” Downcast is written as a comprehensive resource for Christians with depression as well as family members and church leaders who are working to help others with depression. This book covers a wide range of topics and goes in-depth on the questions many Christians have about depression. Topics covered in this book include:
Defining depression and explaining its causes
Confronting myths about depression
Highlighting famous Christians who experienced depression
Covering natural and medical treatments for depression
Practical advice that English pastor and theologian Richard Baxter gave over 400 years ago in his “Advice to Depressed and Anxious Christians”
Unique and most important aspects
Downcast is thorough in covering spiritual aspects of depression while providing sound medical advice. The authors’ approach is aimed at reducing the stigma found in Christian communities regarding depression. While the book is comprehensive, its length could also be a bit overwhelming to someone with depression. Downcast also includes case vignettes of Christians dealing with depression, which made the text more engaging than it would have been otherwise. The authors included a section on “When an Antidepressant Stops Working,” however, I would have liked to hear more from the authors on treatment resistance. Important concepts from this book include:
The importance of differentiating major depression from bipolar disorder
Common forms of psychotherapy and how biblical counseling is different
An interview with Christian leaders Rick and Kay Warren on their experiences of helping their son who had depression and died by suicide
Risk factors for suicide
The “Signs of an Abusive Relationship”
The description of a Psychiatric Advance Directive
Best quotes
“Jay Adams named his approach to counseling nouthetic counseling. However, over time, a school of thought known as biblical counseling diverged from Adam’s nouthetic counseling. Nouthetic counseling has fallen out of favor as some have experienced spiritual harm from it, due to its focus on sin and confrontation and the neglect of context and motivation.”
“The life event most often associated with the development of depression is losing a parent before the age of 11, and the environmental trigger most often associated with onset of depression is loss of a spouse.”
Who would enjoy this book?
Readers who are interested in a comprehensive book on depression written by psychiatrists from a Christian perspective would likely enjoy Downcast.
Who would not enjoy this book?
Readers who are interested in a shorter Christian book on depression with a greater focus on treatments and strategies for treatment resistance would not likely enjoy Downcast.
Conclusion
Downcast is a comprehensive book on depression written by psychiatrists from a Christian perspective.