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I have struggled with depression and the aftereffects of child abuse most of my adult life. I wrote two books to assist others who face these issues.
My first book is TRANSCENDING DEPRESSION. The motivation for presenting my history is to encourage others who grapple with either chronic depression or occasional bouts. I hope my journey resonates with some, validates feelings, and sparks the thoughts “I'm not alone” and “I will feel better.” This book can also help family members and friends of the mentally ill, and their caregivers, find compassion and enable them to understand the struggle. My goal is to save lives.
My second, SURVIVING OUR PARENTS' MISTAKES, concerns recovery from emotional child abuse. My writing reflects the progression of my thinking as I stopped blaming my parents for mistreating me and started taking responsibility for my predicament and recovery. I mention stumbling blocks I encountered along the way, and finish each chapter with insights that have soothed and enriched my present life, bringing peace and vitality. I suggest strategies that will help other abuse victims.
My articles about depression have appeared on the websites of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, and the Canadian Mental Heath Association. I live with my wife, Cathy, in Missoula, Montana.
Reviewed by Jack Magnus for Readers' Favorite
Transcending Depression: Quest Without a Compass is a nonfiction mental health memoir written by Larry Godwin, Ph.D. Godwin shares journal entries written over the 49 years he’s suffered from depression and thoughts of suicide. He discusses the medications he’s been prescribed and the reactions he’s had to them. He also expounds upon the alternative treatments he’s tried including nutritional supplements, natural foods, yoga, meditation, acupuncture, and exercise. Godwin found he inevitably suffered adverse reactions to many of the pharmaceuticals out there and even fine-tuning his dosages to micro-levels failed to protect him from the inevitable physical and mental issues that would result.
The author shares the impact his depression has had on his life, his interactions with family and friends, his ability to function in full employment, and his need for space, time, and privacy for healing. His history and life were shaped in no small part by his dysfunctional family background, primarily his mother and her behavior, coupled with the absence of his father, and it’s something he’s worked to offset throughout his adult life. As well as his carefully curated journal entries, Godwin includes Appendices listing the psychiatric medications he’s been prescribed, a Depression Survival Guide listing over 30 steps and suggestions, and Chess in the Labyrinth, an article which imagines mental health and the struggle with depression as a chess game and offers strategies for dealing with it.
Larry Godwin’s Transcending Depression is a frank and fearless look at the author’s life and struggles with depression, which he shares in the hopes of helping others to find their own way through the dark times and stay alive. The seduction of ending it all is a sad and constant thread throughout his entries. Godwin’s persistence in surviving, despite the disappointments stemming from the medications which fail to resolve his issues and the difficulties he faced in dealing with interpersonal and professional relationships, is inspiring. His is an important work that may indeed save lives. Highly recommended.
