The Upward Spiral: Using Neuroscience to Reverse the Course of Depression, One Small Change at a Time

The first few chapters are more science, but he makes it simple enough to follow along.It’s helpful foundation for the 2nd half of the book which has SO MUCH practical help and info.If you have depression or anxiety, this is a great read. And he’s had it to, so there’s an understanding and empathy even as he writes.

Congratulations Alex Korb, you have a book that is accessible to my 11 year old, and I mean that as a good thing. So, I saw a news article on this book recently that had some snippets of advice from the author, which I had agreed with, and so I checked it out from the library to peruse it before deciding to purchase it because I have been hunting for something credible for her that would not be too esoteric or sleep inducing, because we've been having a tough month with pets and people passing away.So overall, I actually really thought this was a well done book. It is solidly written in an engaging, conversational manner, which is what makes it feel more accessible I think. The author does frequently refer to different structures in the brain, but he also provides a couple of diagrams to show you the location of what he is talking about. All of the self-help techniques mentioned are backed by research. It is true that probably you as a reader may have heard many of these things before, but you may be like some people I know and not so interested in trying them unless you understand that they have been studied and proven effective for improving symptoms of sadness or depression, and this book does a good job of backing up the methods. The author also steers entirely clear of spiritual or religious matters, which I also tend to think could be a benefit. I am a deeply spiritual person myself, but not everybody is and I think the neutrality in that matter makes it accessible to a wider range of people.This book does not really go much into thought or behavioral modification therapies (though arguably the sections on focusing on more positive memories and gratitude certainly overlap), but I tend to think often without some of the other lifestyle supports that encourage optimal hormone levels included in this book, those methods alone aren't going to present as much of an improvement, and they are involved enough that it is appropriate to mention them only and direct someone to seek further for more detailed information elsewhere.The only think that had me quirking an eyebrow on this book was the brief dip into chaos theory in the introduction, where the author likened the methods in this book to the beating of a butterfly's wings in LA breaking up a storm in New York. I'm going to be up front and say chaos theory isn't something I am very well versed in, while I am capable of going all sciency on someone, my happy place actually tends to be the arts. However, I have read enough to know that there are thinkers of the opinion that there are so many different systems acting upon one another when it comes to butterflies and the weather that it would actually be difficult to demonstrate a relationship in real world conditions between any one butterfly and any one meteorological event.However, I think relationships between the methods described in this book and positive outcomes can be more strongly demonstrated, as the author has done throughout the book. My only reason for mentioning this is that the reference occurs in the beginning of the book, and I offer it as a word of encouragement to anyone who might read the butterfly sentence and either think it didn't make sense or that it was nonsensical and that therefore the rest of the book would be as well. There is actually a mathematical theory the statement is based on, so I can kind of see the point he was trying to make with it about how small changes in your routines can lead to big effects, but...I personally think an oft used analogy about a very small turning of the helm in a ship leading to a totally different destination might have been something easier related to by many, and I think that's pretty much what he was trying to say with that whole butterfly thing.Overall though, I think this is a well done book, one I believe in enough to provide to my daughter for reading, and on a personal note, I totally endorse and use many of the techniques the author mentions and have for years and have found that they can help get me through some of the of the more difficult things life can offer.

This is a good guide to the basic mechanisms of depression and would be useful as a primer on the neuroscience of depression, or for a family member or friend of a depressed person who wants to gain a better understanding. I think it would also be useful in making small habit changes for someone who has chronic mild depression or is unmotivated or feels stuck.For the “advanced depressive” like myself it doesn’t offer any groundbreaking advice. The actionable advice is things like exercise and being more social. There were a couple writing things that galled me. The author is worried his writing level is out of the readers depth, and constantly reassures them he’ll break things down simply, or uses distracting metaphors. I found this kind of condescending and would prefer information to be offered in a more neutral and straightforward way. I don’t think the average person would be intellectually overwhelmed by the book, considering it offers pretty basic information about brain structures. I wanted to know more about how things like inflammation, glutamate, and NMDA work since I am pretty sure the cause of my depression lies in genetic factors related to these. Since the author is not a sufferer himself, the examples of being sad in college feel a little trivial and situational.I also wondered about the assertion that nothing was “fundamentally wrong” with the depressed brain followed by descriptions of various things that did seem to be wrong with it, as well as the assertion the depressed brain looks no different on an MRI.