Books that are written for depressed people are everywhere. Books that are written for their caregivers are hard to find. There is often a chapter for caregivers at the end of a book, but the advice can be superficial for lack of space.
“Back From the Brink Too” is devoted entirely to caregivers. It’s an excellent resource, and being a caregiver myself, I devoured it in a couple of sittings. Lovely.
The book’s author, Graeme Cowan, suffered severe depression over an extended period. As he recovered he was inspired by other people’s stories of their own recoveries. This was the basis of his first book “Back From the Brink”.
“Back From the Brink Too” is another collection plus more, this time focused on the needs of caregivers. It is down-to-earth and practical; a genuine “how-to” volume for helping a loved one with depression and working through the issues faced as a caregiver.
Graeme interviewed 550 people: 300 with depression and 250 caregivers. It is fair to say the book is well grounded in people’s experiences. He quotes from them extensively. One memorable example is “I wished I understood that he was mentally ill and not a bastard”. Very applicable stuff!
The interviews are complemented with plenty of current research.
A good chunk of the book covers a 7-step “plan”:
- Building Knowledge
- Learning to listen
- Finding the right help
- Providing the best support
- Finding help for you
- Taking care of yourself
- Surviving a crisis
I found all of the sections to be helpful, but especially the 3rd. It is basically a guide for navigating the health system, where to look for help, what to say to health professionals, how to make the most of medical appointments, and finding help for a child or adolescent. Very handy if you don’t have much experience with this. It is written around the Australian health system but most if not all would apply anywhere.
I would have liked more emphasis on helping someone to remain well after recovery or to be resilient in the early stages of illness. Perhaps there will be a “Back to the Brink 3″ with more on this. But the book is great and I highly recommend it.
N.B. This is an Australian book and not available on Amazon (yet), however there is a paid download. For more information and other resources visit Graeme Cowan’s website.
Reviewed by Anna.