Introduction

(Skip this intro and go right to the book...)

As the Psychologist charged with keeping the Mental Help Net website an excellent place for people to learn about mental health and wellness issues, my working days are intimately bound up with evaluating website content. For every resource we feature, there are numerous others we decline. There is a lot of junk out there, and a lot of products masquerading as content. There are also many mediocre resources that simply restate basic facts. Only seldom does something cross my desk that is unique, interesting and excellent, and at the same time fun. I had that happy experience recently, and I'm pleased and honored to share it with people. So pleased, in fact, that I wrote to Ellen (the author) and have gained permission to directly incorporate her resource into Mental Help Net itself.

Ellen's Depression Primer ebook is an accurate introduction to what depression is and how it may be treated, but that is not what makes it special. Her book is special because it is so very personal and so very accessible. It is a personal book because it's existence is so clearly owed to Ellen's struggle to master her own depression, and because it is written in Ellen's gentle and compassionate voice, serious and silly ...