This Is Your Brain on Depression: Creating Your Path to Getting Better: Creating Your Path to Getting Better (5-Minute Therapy) by Faith G. Harper

This Is Your Brain on Depression: Creating Your Path to Getting Better: Creating Your Path to Getting Better (5-Minute Therapy) Reviews

• 
  Allie

  I would have loved this (wonderfully warm and funny) if there wasn’t a big dose of snake oil at the center. She has a lot of caveats around whether or not you want to use them.. but it destroyed her credibility for me (which sucks because I did enjoy the book). Simply saying something is evidence-based doesn’t make it so.
  
  Here’s an example..
  We state that UCLA studies electrical activity in the body, and is a respected institution with government funding.
  
  But we are asked to assume that..
  1. Electrical activity in the body is the same as energy healing and is a focus of study at UCLA.
  2. UCLA is publishing findings that reiki is effective.
  3. One institution / paper is enough to support reiki as evidence-based
  
  Conclusion: Reiki works y’all
  
  That’s just breaking down one line tossed out there. How are we to know what’s legitimate when it comes to claims around sun-lamps and weighted blankets? Peer-support? Meditation? Self-care? It brings all of the presented depression tools into question. I don’t want to have to fact-check every tip here.
  
  And personally, I’ve dropped stupid money on posture correctors, sun lamps, vitamins, weighted blankets... whatever would help me overcome my depression even a little. I wish I’d saved myself the cash, and I feel a bit taken advantage of. Having that money in the bank, or paying off debt, is a much more effective antidepressant in my experience.
• 
  Virginia

  I wish I had these books when I was a teenager. The language makes it so much more relatable which means the really important information in the book is easier to take in.
• 
  Brian Sachetta

  I started reading Harper’s more popular book, “Un**** Your Brain,” a few weeks ago. I’m really enjoying it so far. When I noticed that she had several other short books on mental illness, I picked this one up as well.
  
  It’s a quick read / listen, but that doesn’t take away from its power. It gets to the root of depression quickly and effectively and makes you feel like you’re not alone nor crazy. In this one, Harper’s trademark style is on full display — swears, jokes, and the like.
  
  Personally, I enjoy her somewhat explicit style; I think it provides comedic relief and solidarity amidst some difficult and heavy subject matters.
  
  This one, structurally, reminded me of “F*** Anxiety��� by Robert Duff in the sense that it’s a very good introduction to a specific mental illness. Sure, it’s not the entire picture of said illness, but it’s still quite effective and eye-opening.
  
  I’d recommend this one for sure.
  
  -Brian Sachetta
  Author of “Get Out of Your Head: A Toolkit for Living with and Overcoming Anxiety”
• 
  Kendra Rader

  The author had a really awkward relationship with curse words and clearly seemed to think that adding a sprinkle here & a sprinkle there would give them more credibility or make them more relatable.
  
  I am no stranger when using my “French” but it was just strained in its timing and made the read awkward and often times detracted from the main message that was trying to be conveyed .
  
  Same thing for the use of the word “ya’ll”.
  
  This was a strange read for a topic that deserves more then an attempt at Humor with ill timed and forced curse words and language choice.
• 
  Allison

  The author was definitely trying too hard to be cool and up to date. I can appreciate cursing because sometimes you need different words. Everytime felt forced. The one thing I really liked was the mention and explanation of alternative medicine. Pills don't silver everything, lifestyle matters too.
• 
  Aspasía Bissas

  If you've read Unfuck Your Brain, you don't really need to read this (although if you have some form of depression and no other mental health concerns, then reading this instead of UYB is probably the better choice). Like UYB, she delves into pseudo-science at times, which leaves me disinclined to trust the rest of what she has to say. Yes, by all means, do whatever makes you feel better--however--some of what she suggests will at best have only a placebo effect, which might make you feel better for a little while, but won't help long term. If a little while is good enough, then go for it.
• 
  Craig

  “This Is Your Brain on Depression: Creating Your Path to Getting Better” by Faith G. Harper is a book that quite literally explains what your brain is like on depression and how to create a plan to get better. This book was entertaining and informative, although it was not overly helpful for me I can see some people getting some benefit out of it.
  
  The book is not overly long and doesn’t beat you over the head with science mumbo jumbo. Instead it has a very casual writing style that makes understanding the content very easy. Now while I did find some tid bits to be beneficial, for the most part it was a lot of rehashing of things I have already heard. I do try to plan to implement some of the things that were discussed though. All in all if you are struggling with depression this may be a beneficial read for you. I don’t think everything in this book will be helpful, but something might be. For me it was just nice reading and learning about something I struggle with almost daily.
• 
  Karl

  No bullshit. Straight ahead. Provocative and searingly helpful. I suffer from this shit and I got a lot out of it. Dr Faith’s mini-books from Microcosm are the ultimate self help DIY guides. There’s about 12 of them. I got this via Kickstarter.
• 
  sanne

  this book is alright. I liked the writing style and the way the author approached certain topics, however it didn't really do anything for me and I wasn't a fan of the pseudo-science thrown in there.
• 
  Morgan

  3.5 stars
  
  
  This was a refreshing and validating take on depression, the causes, behaviors, and treatment options (both medicinal and holistic). It did not “hit” me as hard because I have not experienced true depression and therefore cannot speak on the representation of those who have. I hope that people who struggle with depression find this comforting and freeing, overall this was a solid read for me.
• 
  Justine

  I really enjoyed the spoons analogy and I’ll be writing out my own “crisis plan” for when I see the signs of an impending depression tunnel.
  
  I usually don’tmind swearing, but this felt like she was doing it just to prove how relatable she is; it felt forced and awkward.
• 
  Brock Mclaughlin

  This just goes to show anyone can write a book. This read like a combination of buzzfeed listicles and Wikipedia articles with swear words and slang to seem more relatable I guess. Props if this works for you.
• 
  Deanna

  Good information packed into a quick read/listen. However, for me, the highly overused F-bombs detracted from the main message of the book.
  
  *Note* - Had I paid closer attention to the small print at the bottom of the audiobook, I would have noticed the titles of other books by the author.
• 
  Kayley Steele

  Content - The content focus on depression, worry guilt and shame. The symptoms of depression and indicators that you are showing signs of depressive disorder. Brief summaries of causes of behaviours, and treatment options. Faith Harper in all her short self-help books explores alternatives to medications which is great, it's taking a new world approach to how we should manage mental health disorders. I like the mention of bi-polar disorder in relation to depression as I've seen so many people I support misdiagnosed and not receiving the correct support and treatment option available.
  
  Audio Quality - Good, listened via audible.
  
  Overall -  Was a good listen, simple to follow along with.
  
  Recommendation - . Recommend to anyone wanting a basic understanding of depression , behavioral causes and treatments available including alternatives to medications.
• 
  Jimena

  I really enjoyed this book, the way is written made it so easy for me to understand and to deal with what has a become a reality in the past few months of my life.
  
  Warning! Maybe for some people it might nos be as enjoyable, yes it has bad words, and yes it deals with some topics that some "pure scientists" might not agree with. About the swearing, some people find it forced, I think this might be because they don't usually speak like that in their ordinary lifes, because for me, even English not being my first language, I found it very relatable, and to be honest that was one of the things that I enjoyed the most.
• 
  Renee

  The way Faith narrates her book is extremely relatable and I found myself laughing because I was like this is exactly how I feel and she breaks every mental illness down where it makes sense and where I personally didn't feel bad about having major depressive disorder.
  I am also currently listening to her other book unfuck your brain which is also amazing this is my third listen on audible....
  Do yourself a favor and pick it up it is amazing
• 
  Shyla Colt

  An incredibly informative overview of depression: what causes it, some of the levels, ways to help yourself through a down period etc. It helps you understand the biochemical roots of th mood disorder,along with some common medical jargon and treatments and plans for the funnel aka the path toward a depressive episode.
• 
  Pontus Enander

  This is a good and fairly short book and not surprisingly focuses on depression. A good overview and more practical than academic in its stance.
  
  If you however either want a wider perspective or more tools to use, or both, I highly recommend Faith G. Harper’s book “Unfuck Your Brain: Using Science to Get Over Anxiety, Depression, Anger, Freak-outs, and Triggers”.
• 
  Megan Thomas

  THIS BOOK WAS AMAZING AND I CANNOT RECOMMEND IT ENOUGH!
  
  As someone who struggles with depression and anxiety, this was such a validating read. If you are someone who struggles with depression, or are someone who wants to know more about depression and how it can affect your loved ones, please read this.
  
  Faith G. Harper is one of my new favorite authors!
• 
  Saurav Poudel

  A good first book to understand the subject. Not daunting, informal language (including liberal use of foul words) makes it easy and fun enough to read.
  
  If you are reading this book in a good (decent) state of mind, good for you. If you are confused by your state of mind and may possibly need help, I feel for you but good luck figuring this s**t out.
  
  
  
• 
  Sarthak

  While the author is definitely a qualified expert on this topic, this book reads more like a marketing pitch for multiple pseudo-scientific internet fads. I was hoping to gain some science-based evidences and approaches but as it turns out, it’s not the book for that. However, I can totally see the kind of audience that might benefit from this book.
• 
  Jennifer Thomas

  I really appreciate this book. I cycle from depressive to manic states but have never been diagnosed. I felt seen and was given some good advice on how to manage and develop coping skills for episodes. I'd recommend this to anyone dealing with mood swings of any level. It may open your eyes to options you hadn't considered.