THE LIFESAVER | Greeshma Manohar | Book Review
Depression is such a hard-hitting thing. It is not sadness. It is the cold feeling of not feeling anything. You stare at the ceiling for long, you smile warmly but do not feel the warmth inside of you, you hardly come out of your bed, bath, eat, or simply bask in the glory of light. Darkness becomes your companion, your comfort zone, and you do not want to come out of it. That is depression!
The Lifesaver by Greeshma Manohar is a well-written book on depression that talks about the subject in focus in good depth. The book draws its essence from the meticulous research done by the author as well as her personal experiences. She attempts to subtly put forth the true picture of depression. Alongside this, she makes an honest effort to help her readers come out of depression. And guess what? You need to follow some not-so-difficult steps to set yourself free from depression.
Again, a lot of you might feel that depression cannot be normalized. One cannot just get away with it easily. And that is not something to be considered casually. I would agree with that. However, you can definitely bring some change, a significant one at that, by altering a few things here or there in your life. And with my personal experience, I can certainly vouch for a few tips given in this book. They work, they worked for me. They might (and not, will) work for you too.
I loved how the author talked about depression. She brilliantly sketched its enormity. I could totally feel the grimness of depression. But that was not all. She went a step ahead and talked about how can we help ourselves. Our healing begins with us. To be honest, all of us are fighting our own battles, and let’s be practical, we cannot lend a helping hand every time. But we can certainly help ourselves. Let us do that, at least.
The author made use of stories and anecdotes from her life to validate her points. She kept writing to the point which, again, made me like this book thoroughly. This book is like a guide, a friend, a solace. It never sounded preachy instead, its precise narrative followed by actionable tips and activities was a treat. Kudos to the author for writing this book and helping others with her own inspiring story.