Hope Prevails: Insights from a Doctor's Personal Journey through Depression

Hope Prevails: Insights From A Doctor’s Personal Journey Through Depression by Dr. Michelle Bengtson. Published August 16, 2016 by Baker/ Revell by Dr. Michelle. Twelve chapters of Dr. Bengtson’s riveting personal journey suffering with severe depression, interacting compassionately with the reader, and prescribing methods at the end of each chapter such as writing down a bible verse, helping the depressed person make choices and changes daily in order to focus on health and well-being instead of the self- destructive path that depression leads them to further harm is a welcomed book. A book that finally looks at the spiritual aspect of a person suffering from depression. As a board certified clinical neuropsychologist with over 25 years of experience diagnosing and treating patients with medical and mental health disorders, Dr. Michelle Bengtson has seen the devastation that depression brings. So for her to walk through the valley of depression this gives so much credibility to this book for me. She knows what someone is going through, they are not alone. This reader found golden nuggets in every chapter. This book is written to the depressed person to give hope, a hope that sustains, and a hope that prevails.Chapter 1, “This Thing Called Depression,” addresses many facts about depression. Dr. Bengtsonis a board certified clinical neuropsychologist with over 25 years of experience diagnosing and treating patients with medical and mental health disorders, she has seen the devastation that depression brings first hand. Of course, the data is backed with statistical proof but one fact that I struggled to wrap my mind around is 9 million women suffer from depression. Depression is the leading cause of disability.Chapter 2, “You Are Not Alone” Dr. Michelle shares the truth that Christians suffers from depression but often hide their depression. I can relate to this statement as I kept praying for healing and it just did not come quickly enough. She shares, “If you want freedom from depression, you have to let go of some myths and lies, and replace them with truth, God’s truth.”Chapter 3, “The Underlying Truth about Depression” this chapter reviews the various causes of depression. It’s Chemical one may have a chemical imbalance, its genetic one may have a family member or a parent with depression. It’s secondary from another cause so primarily one has an illness and depression develops, I saw this in my husband after his back surgeries. It’s reactionary from a major life change for example one has a job loss. It’s spiritual and she devotes many chapters to this area. The rest of this chapter is devoted to the telling of her story. As she shares, “Nothing compares one to experiencing such conditions of depression first hand. We can never fully understand another person’s suffering until we go through it ourselves. Such is the case with depression. When I went through the valley of depression, I tried all the same treatment recommendations that I offered to my own patients, and they helped but they were suboptimal and I could not figure out what I was doing wrong. It was only when I started understanding that we cannot ignore the spiritual side of depression.”The chapters that follow share a complex healing plan that includes how to recognize your enemy, how to recover your joy, how to reclaim your peace, and how to reestablish your identity and much more.The chapter I most identified with is Chapter 8, “Know Your Worth” I found freedom in Chapter 8, which was entitled “Know Your Worth.” In this chapter, Dr. Michelle Bengtson shares about how God is 100% for us. Yet we have an enemy who is 100% against us and it is one of his primary purposes to bring us down and demean us and distract us from living the victorious life God provides. In this chapter, Dr. Michelle said, “Depression doesn’t define our worth, and God delights in us as his masterpiece.” Through reading this chapter, I realized just how much I have allowed words of others to determine how I feel about myself and when Dr. Michelle said, “Tragically, we allow words, attitudes or actions of others to influence how we feel about ourselves” Lastly, a quote that really says it all, “The authority to speak on my worth is Jesus.”“Hope Prevails” offers the insights that I learned about the spiritual side of depression, what the enemy does to entrap us in depression, and what by the grace of God, the enemy cannot do. “Hope Prevails” shares God’s help, hope, and healing for managing depression. Dr. Michelle Bengtson wrote this book to offer hope: a hope that sustains, a hope that is real, a hope that prevails.I highly recommend this book, I am a Master’s Prepared Nurse in discharge planning and we help with many homeless, this book would be great in the homeless shelter and the transitional housing center. This book is a must read for any homeless ministry, any ministry that has people that are coping with challenging life issues that are interrupting and are facing social issues affecting mental health. This book would be a nice addition to the Set Free Ministries, Freedom In Christ Ministries, and Pregnancy Centers.Diana Rockwell RN, MSN

Hope Prevails has been a special blessing to me . Reading the book I was looking for answers to how to help others. All of a sudden I saw my fingers pointing back at me . Yes I too have found depression has tried to rob me of my joy and hope. Thanks to Dr. Michelle Bengtson who walks her talk as she too has had to learn how to deal and cope with depression I have the courage to move forward and claim vI originally bought Hope Prevails as a way to understand my friends who deal with depression and maybe find a way to offer them a hand up out of depression. To my surprise it wasn’t long before I had ten fingers pointing back at me ! Ouch ! Wow ! Me , Myself and I have been held captive under the chains of depression without me realizing what has been going on in my life. I’m learning to understand depression and well it does not have to control or define me . I have joy. I have hope. Learning to cope with depression takes time and determination. My copy of Hope Prevails is decorated and marked up as I have personalized it for me. I am embarking on my 4th journey through the book. I have a notebook beside my book. I begin each reading time with asking God to walk and talk with me through this journey. We have an amazing time . Abba is with me catching my tears as He gives me hope that I can prevail and embrace joy to the fullest . Please join this journey to discover God has hope designed to fill your days with joy !

The sharing by the author has warmed my heart and I felt that I wasn't alone. Her sharing of personal experiences and Bible verses that have strengthened her is very useful and helpful, and gives me much hope. Thank you for the book. It has brought much comfort.

Hope Prevails is accessible and personal even while addressing the highly complex subject of depression from a professional perspective...which is NOT an easy balance to accomplish! Dr. Bengtson provides an overview of the conventional causes and treatments of depression and also shares her own personal experiences of depression from the inside out--including her life-changing discovery that depression often has a spiritual component that tends to be overlooked.For those who have suffered for years and tried everything they know, learning to take thoughts captive and unearth long-standing lies and replace them with truth could be just the deal-changer they've been hoping for! I like that this book doesn't rule out the conventional treatments of therapy, medication, etc. but also acknowledges that conventional methods clearly AREN'T the answer for every form of depression!I personally can attest to the spiritual approach Dr. Bengtson talks about, as it was life-changing for me too - when I became suicidal 16 years ago. Although therapy and medication were part of the solution for me, the long-term deep down change came from learning to think about what I think about - and what I take for granted and BELIEVE - and surrender those thoughts to God and the truth of His Word. Like Dr. Bengtson, I can wholeheartedly say that even after the darkest days of depression...HOPE PREVAILS!

Invaluable resource for the patient, the practitioner and support people.

Very good book. Especially as it is written by a specialist in that illness.