Roger Di Pietro
This is the final book in a series that explores how persistent depression (a.k.a. dysthymia, dysthymic disorder, neurotic depression, chronic depression) can rise, survive, and thrive. Decoding chronic depression requires realizing psychological symptoms can be an orchestration of physiology, emotions, and behavior that guard against internal and external threats and stressors, and somewhat comparable to the body’s evolutionarily-advantageous biological immune system and physical symptoms. Dysthymia can protect people’s self-esteem, status, acceptance, and way of living and be a means to avoid ridicule, rejection, failure, and abandonment as well as related to kindhearted attempts to help others, which may explain its prevalence and persistence. Yet, vital elements that reveal clear and understandable logic and function can be invisible and inscrutable to the uninitiated. Identifying patterns and purpose demands a prepared and keen eye. Therefore, this series finale provides distilled illustrations that more closely represent how symptoms genuinely appear. Each a mystery with clues and evidence to detect and decipher. By applying knowledge gathered from the previous books you can identify and integrate psychological elements, mind and body unity, and social factors to discover purpose. While reinforced goal-attaining symptoms tend to remain, you’ll also become aware of other reasons why depression can persist. Though psychological insight is helpful and general solutions are offered, given neurotic depression’s complexity and unconscious features there are self-help limits and a valid need for external, expert guidance to reduce symptoms.
