Depression is often a very isolating experience—even when the depressed person has a supportive and loving group of people to rely on.

In my own life, I often found relief in reading books about depression, spirituality or health and trying to relate the wisdom in those books to my own life as a lawyer.

When I searched on-line for materials to read that would support me in my attempt to cope with depression and my law practice, what I found was sometimes helpful, but in the end, not sufficient.
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Gene Theory For Depression Is Now Discredited
From Medical News Today, a study that attempted to replicate the "seminal" study that laid the foundation for psychiatry's "serotonin theory" of depression, claiming a genetic- serotonin impairment underlying depression, has been debunked by the data from 14 similar studies claiming a genetic underpinning to depression.
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New Family-Focused Model Of Depression Care Needed
From Medical News Today, health and social service professionals who care for adults with depression should not only tackle their clients' physical and mental health, but also detect and prevent possible spillover effects on their children, says a new report from the National Research Council and Institute of Medicine.
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Internet-Based Therapy Effective In Treating Depression
From Medical News Today, this article takes a look at a discovery that could lead to new treatment approaches for depression, researchers from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) have shown that internet-based therapy programs are as effective as face-to-face therapies in combating the illness.
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See More Depression In The News

Happyness Skills For Lawyers With With Depression

After writing several books about recovery from depression and stress, I finally decided it was time for me to look a bit beyond recovery; Happy at Last (St. Martin’s, 2008) is the result. Let me say at the outset that happiness is not trivial. Genuine happiness is not only the transient sensation of joy, but also a feeling of overall satisfaction with your life and its course. It’s got to do with being wise and not bringing unnecessary misery on yourself. It requires that you feel a sense of meaning or purpose in your life. It’s the antidote to depression, anxiety, and stress. It’s an especially important subject for lawyers, whose very career seems at times to interfere with personal happiness.
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We Are What We Do

People often come to me asking for medication. They are tired of their sad mood, fatigue, and loss of interest in things that previously gave them pleasure. They are having trouble sleeping or they sleep all the time; their appetites are absent or excessive. They are irritable and their memories are shot. Often they wish they were dead. They have trouble remembering what it is to be happy.

I listen to their stories. Each one is, of course, different, but there are certain recurrent themes: Others in their families have lived similarly discouraged lives. The relationships in which they now find themselves are either full of conflict or “low temperature,” with little passion or intimacy. Their days are routine: unsatisfying jobs, few friends, lots of boredom. They feel cut off from the pleasures enjoyed by others.

Here is what I tell them: The good news is that we have effective treatments for the symptoms of depression; the bad news is that medication will not make you happy. Happiness is not simply the absence of despair. It is an affirmative state in which our lives have both meaning and pleasure.
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