Synopsis
Some call it the Blues, others the Mean Reds.  But for Elizabeth Swados, depression is a dark little cloud that can quickly turn into a black hole.  After years of battling this inner demon alone, Swados decided to get help.  And after finding a solution that worked for her, she picked up her pen and wrote (and drew) this book to help others.

A chronicle of her lifelong journey with an all-too-common condition, My Depression: A Picture Book uses raw, evocative drawings to convey, with humor and humanity, the experiences of one woman. Touching, emotional, and often very funny, the book stands as a gentle reminder to all who have suffered depression that they are not alone.

Click here to read pages from the book!

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Reviews
ELLE MAGAZINE, April 2005: "Whimsy and depression have rarely been so purely and movingly juxtaposed as they are in Elizabeth Swados' howlingly (in both senses) good graphic memoir, My Depression, in which the writer, composer, musician and theater director walks us--picture by picture and caption by caption--through the sometimes humorous, often harrowing, always compassionately human lows that have long plagued her, and also the times in between that have fueled her resilient artistry."

OPRAH MAGAZINE, April 2005: "Going Down? Here's how it works: one minute you're feeling fantastic. Then comes a rejection, a loss, a squandered opportunity. Before you know it, you're slipping into a sinkhole of misery and self-doubt. Luckily, director and composer Liz Swados has come out with My Depression: A Picture Book, a dissection, in words and pictures, of the fear, anxiety, and self-loathing that periodically plunged her into her own black hole, and the baby steps she takes (including pretending to be okay until she really is) to clamber back out. Upshot: a funny, funky, oddly reassuring book."

Praise
JANE PAULEY: "Elizabeth Swados is blessed with ferocious intelligence, artistic vision, and courage.  In this insightful book, she deploys these gifts to take us on a highly original journey of understanding."

GLORIA STEINEM: "Elizabeth Swados has created the first book about depression that isn't depressing.  In irresistible drawings and personal words, she tells us everything we need -to know about this scourge of the spiritual- immune system, and how to help rescue ourselves or someone close to us.  She may even rescue the self-help genre by inventing this form that is humorous, intimate, subtle, and deep."

GARRY TRUDEAU: "People afflicted with depression find it difficult to describe the rings of hell they suffer while in its grip.  With nervous, jazzy drawings and funny but unsparing captions, Swados has found a way to convey the chaos of depression from the perspective of a survivor who has never given up hope."

JIMMY BRESLIN: "This book about feeling bad makes you feel good."

GENE BERESIN, M.D. (Co-director of the Harvard Medical School Center for Mental Health and Media): "Elizabeth Swados captures the mental cartwheels, emotional turmoil, attempts to conceal, and struggles with treatment of this condition with sensitivity, passion, and humor.  As someone who has treated depression for over twenty years, I believe My Depression is a great contribution."

DONALD MARGULIES (author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play Dinner with Friends): "Liz Swados' deceptively simple drawings capture the frantic, off-kilter quality of depression itself.  Like William Styron's Darkness Visible, Swados' memoir illuminates the dark recesses of creativity."

JONATHAN VAN METER (author of The Last Good Time): "With this hilarious, brilliant, and revealing little charmer of a book, Liz Swados has managed to pull off the impossible - twice!  She ahs written a children's book for adults and she has written a book about depression that is so cheerful that it actually puts you in a better mood."

If you are depressed and looking for resources, please click here for information.