Depression affects more than 15 percent of the population, and it is striking people at younger and younger ages. Depression is all too familiar, yet it remains shrouded in mystery, confusion, and fear. What is depression? How is it different from sadness? It is said that depression is a "chemical imbalance", but what does that mean? Which chemicals are involved, and how are they imbalanced? Why is it that just as more research and treatment resources are poured into combating depression, its personal and economic toll has grown? What is fueling the epidemic of depression? Is there anything that can be done to stop it?

Depression: What Everyone Needs to Know® cuts through the confusion around this often-debilitating illness to address the core of these matters. Jonathan Rottenberg offers a practical, listener-friendly synthesis that bridges clinical science, clinical practice, and everyday life. This volume is the essential guide both for understanding what we know about the causes of depression and for learning what to do about it - including material on how to recognize depression in oneself, a family member, or a friend, and how to navigate life after depression. Depression: What Everyone Needs to Know® offers guidance for navigating the bewildering marketplace of treatment options while combatting the misinformation and myths.