Getting Up When You're Feeling Down: A Woman's Guide to Overcoming and Preventing Depression

A book about the blues (as opposed to clinical depression), and steps women can take to overcome them.

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Millions of women are caught up in the emotional tailspin of fatigue, guilt, irritability, low self-esteem and lack of energy commonly called "the blues." In this life-changing book, Dr. Braiker offers women the mental and emotional tools needed to banish blue moods and maintain a positive, productive belief in themselves.

From the Publisher

Getting Up When You're Feeling Down is a book about the blues and steps women can take to overcome them.

You've got your health, a good job and a family you love. So why do you find yourself feeling down? Every woman experiences the fatigue, guilt, irritability, low self-esteem, and lack of energy commonly called "the blues." But as Dr. Harriet Braiker explains, you can change how you feel, and she provides you with the tools to overcome and manage blue moods. You will learn how to determine the cause of low moods, avoid bouts of the blues, regulate your worries and build your self-esteem. With her three-step Triple A program, Dr. Braiker reveals all the secrets of psychological fitness that have worked for hundreds of her patients, so women won't ever have to feel "down" again.

From the Critics

From Library Journal  

Braiker presents a simple three-step method for overcoming ``the blues" -- the low self-esteem, fatigue, guilt, lack of energy, and irritability that occasionally affects every woman. She argues that most cases of mild depression can be helped by applying her Triple A Program: Accept, Attribute, Act. Accept that you are feeling depressed; attribute your feeling to its causes but do not dwell on them; act in ways that will restore a positive mood. A series of questionnaires helps readers determine the nature of their depression and whether or not they need professional consultation. This compassionate book, illustrated with case histories, assures readers that they are not alone and provides the tools to overcome mild depression. - Judith Janes, Univ. Hospitals of Cleveland
 
From Publisher's Weekly  

Occasional negative moods (as opposed to major clinical depression) should not be cause for alarm, according to clinical psychologist Braiker. Her upbeat guide, couched in psychological jargon, is addressed in particular to women who attempt to excel in every sphere. She offers a drugless ``Triple A'' program to help head off, shorten or alleviate emotional mood swings often due to fatigue, stress and hormonal variations. If frequent and severe enough, she warns, such swings may result in feelings of low self-esteem, irritability and guilt; they can cause overeating, drinking, uncontrolled crying and can adversely affect physical health, along with personal and professional relationships. The program uses examples, questionnaires, daily mood rating forms and diaries to help women to discern the physical and/or mental causes and to reverse negative moods through exercise, social and other activities. First serial to McCall's and Working Mother; Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club alternates.