Brainswitch Out of Depression: Break the Cycle of Despair

This book was written only for the purpose of income I use it for toilet paper
Rating: 1 / 5

If you are looking for a useful book that treats (chronic) depression and other mental health issues such as bipolar disorder with any kind of sensitivity or provides helpful information, this is NOT the book for you.

Curtiss slings around lots of medical jargon and claims, but does not hold any sort of medical degree or medical training. She is a licensed therapist and, apparently, hypnotist. A repeated claim Curtiss makes is that depression is not a medical condition and cannot be diagnosed in any way other than through a patient’s self-reporting. While it is true that the majority of diagnoses rely on a patient reporting their symptoms, it IS in fact possible to see depression in the brain using PET scans. This is just one of a myriad of false medical claims she makes using sketchy evidence to support her already pre-determined theory — a theory she made as a non-medical professional.

She also displays a shocking lack of logic in both her books and on her website. For instance, she claims “A Psychometric Medicine study found that 40% of patients relying on drugs were stricken with depression again within 6 months versus only 8 % who exercised.” on her website. What she neglects to mention is that only 8% of people FOR WHOM EXERCISE ALONE WORKED had recurring depression. If a person is experiencing a depression that is cured by increased endorphins (from exercising) alone, then their depression was likely not severe or chronic. She neglects to delineate between a single episode of depression and chronic or cycling depressions. It IS normal for humans to experience depression after a major life change or other upsetting event, and perhaps certain cognitive behavioral therapy can help these minor depressions. However, Curtiss lumps all depression together — from the minor blues to suicidiality — and claims that depression is a choice.

Ultimately, this book is not a book about helping people help themselves out of depression. It is an attack on the psychiatric community and reads like it was written by a recent gung-ho convert to Scientology who is out to make a quick buck. Perhaps Curtiss should have stuck to writing Children’s books, as fiction and a lack of basic logic skills seem to be her forte.

If you or a loved one are experiencing depression, contact a doctor, therapist, or psychiatrist. If you wish to try to alleviate depression without medication, then do so with a sensible plan (exercise, eating right, increased sunlight, etc.) and someone to help you through it. Do not read this book filled with misinformation and hostility towards anyone Curtiss considers weak enough to be depressed.

Rating: 1 / 5

Depression sufferers live form habitual thought patterns that only serve to perpetuate the biochemical content that keeps them in psychological pain, which becomes physical pain. Brain Switch principles, vigorously applied, change the pattern, and THAT is the most important thing of all for any mind caught in a dangerous loop of self-abusing negativity.

No work in the entire Amazon jungle is perfect, so fairness dictates that one shouldn’t expect the author to be stepping down from on high to gift infallible commandments to the masses. Perfection is not what the sufferer is seeking, but RELIEF. Brain Switch points the way down one path to relief.
Rating: 4 / 5