For some people depression is a recurring nightmare lasting days and even weeks. For others it is an ever-present melancholy which pervades every waking moment.

In the many forms of depression, what is common to them all is that an inner darkness abounds. It insinuates itself into every one of our thoughts, feelings and actions, smothering any hope that a faint light could appear to guide us out of the all-enveloping blackness.

For some people a physiological malfunction inadvertently occurs. In others certain long-term patterns of negative thinking eventually trigger a physiological imbalance. For many, the depression is the darkest part of the night before a new dawn, ‘the dark night of the soul’ reported by many saints and seers.

The approach we recommend is to regard the depression as coming into our lives at a time when we are meant to undergo a radical change in our attitudes, preferences and beliefs.

There are a number of excellent websites and self-help books for those struggling with depression.

What we offer here are CDs titled ‘Overcoming Depression’, and the following pages which could be useful for some readers.