The Happy Depressive

Would you like to be a Happy Depressive? Do you live with chronic depression and face the prospect of living with this condition for the rest of your life? Or do you care for someone who does? Does this sometimes make you feel helpless and alone? Wouldn't it be great to have a good friend who understood how you feel? Who has been through the same struggles and found a way to cope and be happy? You could pull up a chair, put the kettle on or open a bottle, and talk without shame about your shared experiences. It is rare for us to find that person, so let this book be that friend. Steve Richards has lived with depression for almost 40 years and plans to live with it for much longer. In The Happy Depressive he shares his own life experiences with frankness and honesty and explains how depression has affected him along the way. He also describes in detail the coping strategies that have helped him live a happy and fulfilling life. Happy Depressives do exist, and he invites you to join their ranks.

Steve Richards was born and raised in South Wales. He was imbued with the Welsh love of language from an early age. At school he was torn between his love of English, literature and storytelling and his aptitude for mathematics and physics. He chose the latter and enjoyed an interesting professional life, firstly as a civil engineer working on major transport projects and later as a technical advisor to the European Investment Bank in Luxembourg. Throughout his working years he tried hard to keep his creative side alive, using the small gaps a busy career offers to write short stories and articles on subjects close to his heart. He also pursued private study of psychology and on retirement took the masters level course he had always dreamed of completing. In retirement he spends most of his time on voluntary work with young people, particularly disadvantaged teenagers: working with boys to encourage alternative and positive models of masculinity; working in schools to improve sex and relationship education; and with young offenders undertaking community service. He is married to Anne who helps him cope with life and has the dubious honour of being the first to read everything he writes. He is not a professional counsellor or therapist but offers something which those professionals may lack - lived experience. He has suffered from depression since his late twenties but has lived a fulfilling and happy life and hopes to do so for many years to come.