October, 2010:

They call it the black dog. It’s an all consuming illness that drains us of our energy and joy, and magnifies despair.

It’s estimated that 1 in 10 people will experience depression during their lifetime.

While facing depression himself, Darren Speers found that there was a real need for a simple and clear guide to the illness. Drawing on personal experience and a degree in psychology, Darren has written Called to Hope, a book that looks at the symptoms and causes of depression, as well as the many treatments available.

Darren Speers has had depression (chronic dysthymia) since he was 21 years old. Since then, he has earned degrees in psychology and theology, and has worked as a gardener, factory hand, desk monkey, sales consultant, and freelance writer and editor.

When not writing, he tries to improve his knowledge of Greek and Hebrew, although he has some incompetency in German, can order a pizza in Latin, and inform speakers of French that he is a potato. For exercise he enjoys dancing, particularly to swing and blues music.

Earlier this year I spoke to Darren on 98.5 Sonshine FM. You can hear our discussion on depression and the writing of his book by clicking the play button on the audio player at the bottom of this post.

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