Dancing in the Dark: How to Take Care of Yourself When Someone You Love Is Depressed

by Bernadette Stankard, Amy Viets

Overview

Dancing in the Dark is brimming with tried-and-true suggestions, helpful hints, and up-to-date resources for anyone whose life is affected by the depression of another. Authors Bernadette Stankard and Amy Viets offer compassionate wisdom, reflective quotations, and practical assistance based on their personal experience of life with depressed partners.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781936290703
Publisher:	Central Recovery Press, LLC
Publication date:	02/01/2012
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Bernadette Stankard: Bernadette Stankard and her husband, Ed, have been married for forty years, half of which was spent dealing with Ed's depression. Through his perseverance and their commitment as a couple, they have grown into good health together, realizing the gift of life they share, which could have been lost.

Bernadette is the author of several books and gives presentations to schools, churches, and businesses on creativity, multiple intelligences, and living with depression.

Amy Viets: Amy Viets knows firsthand what it means to live with depression: she and her husband, Bruce, struggled through twelve years of marital, emotional, and financial strain as they searched for an effective combination of therapy and medication. Now, with Bruce's return to health and the rebuilding of their relationship, she is helping others survive the darkness of depression in their spouses.

A former elementary school teacher, Amy is now the Director of Children's Ministry for a large Lutheran congregation in Overland Park, Kansas. Her articles and essays have appeared in a number of religious and parenting publications.

Table of Contents

Chapter One: Fighting the Dark

Chapter Two: The Darkness Knocks at the Door

Chapter Three: Finding Your Way in the Dark

Chapter Four: Relationships and Changing the Dance Steps

Chapter Five: Daily Life in the Dark

Chapter Six: Parenting Blindfolded

Chapter Seven: Self-Care to Fight the Darkness

Chapter Eight: My Higher Power Is Hiding in the Dark

Chapter Nine: Overtaxed and Overtired and You Can’t Find the Light Switch

Chapter Ten: Keeping Special Days in the Light

Chapter Eleven: Dealing with the Dark Side

Chapter Twelve: Recovering and Recognizing the Light

Appendix: Making the Tools Your Own

Editorial Reviews

Stankard (Co-Creators with God: Creative Strategies for Faith Formation) and Viets (Making Faith Fun) have written an inspirational guide for those with loved ones suffering from depression. Based on their own experiences living with depressed spouses, Stankard and Viets share anecdotes, exercises, tips, and resources meant to help readers take care of themselves and their relationships, in addition to caring for their depressed partner or family member. Much of the book discusses reliance on a higher power, and this lends it a more spiritual tone than other guides on this topic, such as Anne Sheffield's Depression Fallout. It is most valuable for the practical exercises, introspective reflections, and discussions of how different relationships can be affected by depression. VERDICT The authors are a bit heavy-handed with the titular dance metaphor, but otherwise they have written a welcome addition to the relatively small field of books that address the emotional health of caretakers of a depressed individual. Recommended for those who appreciate spiritual inspiration with their self-help.—Rachel Hoover, Thomas Ford Memorial Lib., Western Springs, IL

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