Depression Self Help: How to Break Through Depression (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781514828120)

The author, Alfred Bellanti, came from a working class family. The first hint of depression was noticed during his final school years when he was transferred to a different high school. From having been a star pupil he plummeted to the bottom of the class because he lost the ability to focus, concentrate or remember what was being taught in the classroom, especially the mathematics. A visit to the family physician about this problem was not very helpful. He was prescribed some pills which, apart from making his vision blurry, seemed to make hardly any difference at all. The result was that he failed the end of year exams. After a few weeks of finishing school, and at the urging from his mother, Alfred got his first full time job and started evening college soon after. The course was spread over five evenings a week. Working all day and going to evening school five days a week was very difficult and Alfred stopped attending after a few months. The following year after having changed jobs he enrolled for a course in accountancy and commercial law. Although attendance was required only two nights a week the course was so dry and boring he couldn't stand it any longer. His full time job as an accounts clerk became more and more meaningless. In 1969 Alfred "dropped out" and found meaning within the hippie culture, he liked their freedom of thought, and the experimentation with psychedelics. The down side was that the fun, the meaning and freedom he had found was somewhat illusory, and the depression resurfaced, with a vengeance, much worse than before. Alfred experienced deeper bouts of despair and hopelessness and spent more years trying to find meaning in life, through reading, relationships, travel and a few admissions to a clinic. Finally he took on the task of completing his high school subjects and went on to complete his first University Degree in Science. This was indeed very therapeutic for him. From there he moved to graduate study in Psychology, Hypnotherapy and Herbalism. Alfred is the now author of many articles and established in his practice as a Clinical Hypnotherapist and Medical Herbalist. This was interrupted In 2002 when he suffered a severe cancer that brought him close to death because of the complications after surgery. Since then he has found his purpose in life and is happy to help others through his practice and by writing articles and books that help the people who don't have access to his services.