Publisher and Publication Date: Independent published. March 2, 2018.
Genre: Nonfiction. Psychology. Depression. Antidepressants.
Pages: 123.
Source: I received a complimentary copy from the author, but was not required to leave a positive review.
Rating: Excellent.
Audience: Readers who want a better understanding of antidepressants.

Amazon
The ebook is free through Kindle Unlimited.
Amazon page for info in Wallace B. Mendelson M.D.

Dr. Mendelson is currently in the clinical practice of psychiatry. He was formerly Professor of Psychiatry and Clinical Pharmacology, and director of the Sleep Research Laboratory, at the University of Chicago. Dr. Mendelson earned an MD degree from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and completed a residency in psychiatry there as well. He has held professorships at Ohio State University and the State University of New York at Stony Brook, was Chief of the Section on Sleep Studies at the National Institute of Mental Health in Bethesda, MD, and Director of the Sleep Disorders Center at the Cleveland Clinic.

Dr. Mendelson is a past president of the Sleep Research Society. Among his honors is the William C. Dement Academic Achievement Award from the American Sleep Disorders Association/American Academy of Sleep Medicine as well as a Special Award in Sleep and Psychiatry from the National Sleep Foundation, and he is a distinguished fellow of the American Psychiatric Association. Dr. Mendelson has authored four books and numerous peer-reviewed papers on various aspects of sleep research and psychiatry. His website, describing his interests, a blog devoted to literature, as well as a downloadable curriculum vitae, can be found at: www.zhibit.org/WallaceMendelson.

Summary:
“About 16 million Americans experience a major depression each year, and at any given time about one in ten adults is taking antidepressants. There are many different ones, in what can seem like a bewildering variety. In this book, Dr. Mendelson makes sense of the many treatments for depression, and shows that understanding how antidepressants work can help in making better decisions.”

My Thoughts:
Recently, I reviewed a previous book written by Mendelson, Understanding Medicines for Anxiety. Both books have been eye-opening in understanding how these types of medications work. In understanding how a medication works that a patient has been prescribed, it makes the patient and family feel knowledgeable about what is happening; as well as a bit in control about the aspect of knowing what the medication will do and how it will be done. So often a physician will write a prescription and the patient will take the medication not knowing what happens after the pill is swallowed. I’m a person who wants to know!

Chapters:
•”How Drugs Work”
•”Antidepressants”
•”If Things Aren’t Getting Better”
•”Other Depressive Disorders”

Further reasons I love this book:
♦Explains how antidepressants are handled by the brain itself.
♦Other types of mood disorders are explained. Bi-polar is addressed in several areas of the book.
♦List of commonly used drugs for depression and dosages.
♦A history of antidepressants.
♦Types of antidepressant medications are explained, and their interactions with other medications, side effects, and overdose.
♦24 illustrations are included. This includes graphs and photographs.