Lifting the Gloom: Antidepressant Writings

Bob Rich

Jun 2021 · Loving Healing Press

About this ebook

A companion volume to Bob Rich's popular From Depression to Contentment: A Self-Therapy Guide, this little book is a collection of short stories and essays, each with a brief discussion that reveals a path to a good life. If you like a clearly laid out map to contentment, regardless of your circumstances, it's in From Depression to Contentment. If a ramble with surprising twists and turns is more your thing, that's Lifting the Gloom. And actually, the two go together like main course and dessert. Among the essays and excursions you'll find are:

• Laughter: the best antidepressant of all

• Defeating the Blood-Red Dragon: the legacy of childhood trauma

• Armor-coating our kids: become a great role model

• A Lucky Break: how to cope with anything

• Labels: us and them

• Plant Something Beautiful, Feed it with Sunshine, Water it with Love

• Buddhism concepts: equanimity is your friend

• Forgiveness is not just for other people

• The More You Give, The More You Grow

• Where Did You Put Your Attention?

• and more!

From Loving Healing Press www.LHPress.com

Ratings and reviews

This was an engaging read! "Lifting the Gloom" uses a collection of short stories and anecdotes to effectively convey concepts related to depression and its management. One story that stood out to me, in particular, was "Armor-coating our kids", which was both heart-wrenching and educational. I was also drawn to "What about differences?", which explores the topic of labeling people, which I find fascinating.

Lifting the Gloom: Antidepressant Writings, written by Bob Rich, Ph.D. is a companion book to From Depression to Contentment: a self-therapy guide. Lifting the Gloom is a unique book of fascinating stories and vignettes from one hundred words to much longer ones. It even includes poetry. Some are true stories, others are fiction. Bob writes with emotion that pulls you into each story. You relate to the characters and feel their struggles and emotions. You feel the angst each character goes through. The issues related to depression can be multiple. They could include racism, homosexuality, religion, climate change, women, bullying and aging to name a few. Bob writes about depression from his personal involvement and his professional point of view. In some cases, he shows the monsters people may live with and how to fight these monsters. He explains how forgiveness can be healing and how to forgive. It can be done secretly. No one, including the individual, has to know. Bob is a strong environmentalist as well as a Buddhist Jew. His philosophy shows through many of the stories. The stories are fun, interesting, and even upsetting, but very relatable to people you know or have heard about, or real-life situations. There’s always a thought or lesson to be learned from each story. An analysis and possible options that could change the results follow the stories. As a reader you may learn ways to improve your life, perhaps a friend or family member’s life, or maybe improve the environment. I always enjoy Bob’s books. I recommend this book for everyone. If you suffer from depression or know someone who does, it will give you more insight into the condition. Or you may find ways to improve your own life, or maybe a way to help the planet.

I loved the short stories that were used as examples in this book. My favorite, page-turning and jaw-dropping was Jimmy’s story. Wow! I admired how metaphors were used to clearly explain concepts. “Anger” is as hot coals that burn your hand and scar you when you attempt to throw at the antagonizer. Many positive phrases can change our mindset like, “The more you give, the more grow; Live simply so you can simply live.” I also liked the loving instruction given on survival in the Professional Grandfather’s section. This book will help many suffering from depression with coherent pathways of explanation, causes, and examples to clarify this emotional pain.

About the author

Bob Rich, Ph.D. earned his doctorate in psychology in 1972. He worked as an academic, researcher and applied scientist until “retiring” the first time at 36 years of age. Later, he returned to psychology and qualified as a Counseling Psychologist, running a private practice for over 20 years. During this time, he was on the national executive of the College of Counselling Psychologists of the Australian Psychological Society (APS), then spent three years as a Director of the APS. He was the therapist referrers sent their most difficult cases to.

Bob retired in 2013, but still does pro bono counseling over the internet. This has given him hundreds of “children” and “grand­children” he has never met, because many of these people stay in touch for years. His major joy in life is to be of benefit to others, which is why he wrote a book that’s in effect a course of therapy.

You can get to know him well at his blog, Bobbing Around, https://bobrich18.wordpress.com