Product Description

For several years, Gareth O'Callaghan, one of Ireland's most popular broadcasters, suffered from severe depression. No one guessed that the moment he was off air, he would retreat to his bed, sometimes with thoughts of suicide, and barely able to function as a husband and father of three small children. In this candid and courageous account, he describes the nightmare he and his family lived through for so long. He looks back to his childhood where he believes the low selfesteem he suffered took root and traces a pattern common to so many. As soon as he was diagnosed, Gareth began a determined fight back to health. Now fully recovered and no longer on anti-depressants, he has emerged with a deep understanding of how depression takes hold - and how to loosen its grasp. Here he shares his wisdom, insight, practical knowledge, and firm convictions in a mission to spread hope to all those affected by it.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #473356 in Books
• Published on: 2003-05-12
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 190 pages

Good Housekeeping
'a moving account of overcoming depression'

Dublin Daily
'an intensely honest and personal account'

Synopsis
For several years, Gareth O'Callaghan, one of Ireland's most popular broadcasters, suffered from severe depression. No one guessed that the moment he was off air, he would retreat to his bed, sometimes with thoughts of suicide, and barely able to function as a husband and father of three small children. In this candid and courageous account, he describes the nightmare he and his family lived through for so long. He looks back to his childhood where he believes the low selfesteem he suffered took root and traces a pattern common to so many. As soon as he was diagnosed, Gareth began a determined fight back to health. Now fully recovered and no longer on anti-depressants, he has emerged with a deep understanding of how depression takes hold - and how to loosen its grasp. Here he shares his wisdom, insight, practical knowledge, and firm convictions in a mission to spread hope to all those affected by it.

Customer Reviews

Essential reading
Having suffered severe depression myself I would recommend it to people who's loved ones are lost in its darkness. When I was depressed I could not put in to words how I felt and people thought I was holding them at bay. This book will help people to understand the weird behaviour a depressed person seems to exhibit. It would also be very helpful for someone suffering from depression for the first time, to help them make sense of everything going on they cannot control. Though when you are depressed I found it impossible to read even a few lines and remember what I had read, so you would need to read it and then explain to the sufferer that the way they are feeling is 'normal'.

An Inspiring Read
This book is about one person's battle with depression. It made me weep several times. But more importantly, it helped me to view my illness from a different perspective. Now, I have hope that I, too, can overcome depression and live a life that is worth living.
Gareth is explaining in detail what most of us go through when we are at our lowest points and what he has done to get better. I can recommed this book to anybody who suffers from depression or who knows somebody who does.
This is probably the best book I have read about Depression so far.

Hope
Having listened to Gareth for years on the radio, I was really shocked to learn of the pain he went through for years, suffering with depression while always being cheerful on his show. In writing this book he has given what I felt was a very honest and refreshing insight into the world of depression and leaves you in the knowledge that there is life "after" depression. Tough book to read but gripping.