When Life Goes Dark - by Richard Winter (Paperback)

About the Book

Psychiatrist and theologian Richard Winter explores the complex issues surrounding depression. He sorts through scientific research, dispels common misunderstandings and looks at how biblical characters experienced despair. Here is help for all those who find themselves, loved ones or those they counsel vulnerable to depression.

Book Synopsis

Depression strikes millions, across all ages and demographic groups. Approximately one in eight will have a severe depressive episode at some point in their life. Women experience depression twice as often as men. And over fifty percent of people with serious depression do not get adequate help. What can be done?Psychiatrist and theologian Richard Winter explores the complex medical and psychological issues surrounding depression. He sorts through recent scientific research on its biochemical and genetic causes and examines social and cultural factors. Winter also dispels common Christian misunderstandings of depression and looks at how biblical characters experienced severe despair. Throughout he offers ways to help the suffering. Even in the shadow of the valley of death, there is hope for healing and deliverance.This book is a helpful guide for those who find themselves, their loved ones or those they counsel vulnerable to depression. Find here a framework both for understanding depression and for rediscovering hope.

Review Quotes

"When Life Goes Dark is an excellent treatment of the full range of distressed mood. Dr. Winter clearly has the gift of comprehending the whole person and uses it to bring coherence to a part of our experience that is too often treated superficially and simplistically. He gives a balanced and thorough picture of both who we are and how we are in times of distress. There is no 'flavor of the month' here, but a true picture of the problem of being human and coping with emotion. In doing so he provides an accurate and integrated look at the complete human condition and its savor. I particularly enjoyed the various contemporary and historic examples of people coping with the world and all its brokenness: personal, biological, social, spiritual. It's good to know we are not alone but travel in a very real company who've experienced everything we do and lived on."

--Mark Cundiff Johnson, M.D., assistant professor in clinical psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri

"If you're looking for a book to help you learn how to help those suffering with depression, this will offer you valuable insight medically, psychologically and spiritually."

--Adam Griffin, YouthWorker Journal, May/June 2012

"Richard Winter's book, When Life Goes Dark, is a comprehensive and biblically based guide for finding hope in the midst of depression. It will be of great help to those suffering from depression and those who minister to them."

--Siang-Yang Tan, Professor of Psychology, Fuller Theological Seminary, and author of Counseling and Psychotherapy: A Christian Perspective

"Winter helpfully surveys the field, explaining current understandings and research, sprinkling his exposition with illustrations drawn from his own life, both as a psychiatrist and as someone who has suffered major depression. He also draws on scripture, which can be particularly helpful to those who are religious and can find some relief and echo in the groaning and lamenting that scripture gives voice to."

--Publishers Weekly, May 21, 2012

"Winter's excellent book deals comprehensively with a topic affecting many people: He treats in a balanced way the role of nature and nurture, and explains differences between sadness, grief, and depression."

--Susan Olasky, World Magazine, January 26, 2013

About the Author

Dr. Richard Winter is a psychotherapist, counselor and professor of practical theology at Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri. A native of Britain, he trained in medicine and psychiatry in England and has lived in the United States since 1992. His books include Still Bored in a Culture of Entertainment and Perfecting Ourselves to Death.