Good Mood Bad Mood: Help and Hope for Depression and Bipolar Disorder By Charles D. Hodges, M.D. Book Review

 

Depression is often easily diagnosed to many people because there are no lab tests to determine if someone is actually suffering from depression. Good Mood Bad Mood is written to cause readers to deem if doctors are just declaring and labeling patients as depressed and not considering that some might be going through a sad event. Charles D. Hodges included the list from Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders on how doctors diagnose patients with depression. To summarize the list, the major points were if you have a depressed mood every day, lost of pleasure in activities, weight gain or loss, fatigue, feeling worthless, unable to concentrate, thoughts of suicide, unable to sleep or sleeping too much. (The whole list is on page 25). A study by the NIMH found that, “Over 25 percent of the U.S. population will carry the label of depression, anxiety, or bipolar at any given time (Page 20).  

An important point of the book that Charles D. Hodges used was mixing in scriptures to covey how God views sadness and the hope that is found in God alone. He pointed out that a woman in Luke 8 with a hemorrhage for twelve years couldn’t find a doctor to help her. The lady finally touched Jesus cloak and was healed. He shared this to position to point out that many people are turning to doctors for help with depression and many are still struggling with depression or sadness. There is nothing wrong with seeking help with doctors we should when we need help. But we also have to keep in mind that some doctors are overprescribing medicine to fix depression and some depression might just be temporary sadness. Charles D. Hodges stated that you should always consult your doctor for you personally.

Charles D. Hodges explained the big difference between normal sadness and depression. Normal sadness basically means an event happened that caused us to feel sad. For example, an illness, loss of a love loved, lost our job, or a failed marriage. The sadness occurred and depending on how big the incident it will take time to process. A death of a child, parent, or spouse can cause grief to last for a lifetime. You don’t get over someone you loved. Some sadness is only temporary like the lost of a job or a relationship break up. Once you find a new job/person the sadness will soon be forgotten.  It is estimated that, “90 percent of those diagnosed with depression are simply sad because of a significant loss, it may also be true that they are nearly 90 percent of patients for whom current medication is no more effective than a placebo” (Page 69).

 

I would recommend this astonishing book to anyone who has been diagnosed with depression or they are feeling a great deal of sadness from a terrible occasion. I am glad that someone is finally questioning the amount of people that are being diagnosed with depression. I loved the fact that Charles D. Hodges has written this book for the 90% that might be sad over an event and is needing time to recover. It’s was also helpful that he instructed readers to trust in God and not worry about things they can’t change. Being anxious doesn’t assist us in being at peace. I loved the aspect that he included a bunch of scriptures to help people who are sad to listen to God’s written word and to remember that God will turn our sadness into joy. This book has the potential to change your thinking about depression and sadness and it will offer readers huge encouragement that could vastly enhance your life!

 

“I received this book for free from Cross Focused Reviews / Shepherd Press for this review”.

 

 

If you would like to purchase a copy of Good Mood Bad Mood, then check it out on Amazon.com:

 

 

http://www.amazon.com/Good-Mood-Bad-Depression-Disorder/dp/1936908506