Customer Reviews
High-quality and informative... 
2006-03-21
This tome is organized extremely well; one can start at the beginning or jump directly into any chapter. The background information is helpful and lucid for parents and the stories from the teens themselves tells it like it is but at the same time gives hope and tells of "the light at the end of the tunnel" for depressed teens, that things do get better. Highly recommended!
OK for teens wanting a quick-reference tool... 
2005-12-07
In When Nothing Matters Anymore, Bev Cobain offers a teen-friendly reference guide to adolescent depression, complete with self-help suggestions, counseling resources, and case studies of teens who sought help for their illness and now lead "normal" adolescent lives. Cobain is a credentialed author: a certified registered nurse, a mental health professional, and a recipient of the National Mental Health Association's Green Ribbon Award for efforts on behalf of teen depression awareness; however, the book reads like Cliff's Notes of a more comprehensive text - as if Cobain simply compiled the bullet-point lists, sidebars, and quick-reference statistics from an American Psychiatric Association web listing for teen depression. When Nothing Matters Anymore relies little on Cobain's personal observations and extensive experience, and too much on peppy, inspirational messages from its case study teens.
The book is structured in two parts: What's Wrong? and Getting Help and Staying Well. What's Wrong? is primarily diagnostic, providing a checklist for the reader to determine whether he or she is depressed, explaining the varieties and causes of depression, and outlining the correlations between depression and chronic illness, sexual abuse, sexual identity, drug use and addiction, eating disorders, and "perceived differences" from peers. Getting Help and Staying Well highlights treatment options, suggests ways to seek help from family or trusted adults, and lists self-help activities for readers undergoing treatment. Both sections include "Survival Tips" that a health professional might suggest to any teen: Get Exercise, Have Fun, Eat Good Food, etc. There are some practical suggestions, like journaling and creating mood charts, and there is a chapter dedicated to the important topic of teen suicide, but the book as a whole rarely digs below the surface of the illness and underestimates its audience's desire (and perhaps ability?) to understand depression more fully.
One aspect of the book that seems borderline inappropriate is Cobain's ad nauseam referencing of her cousin Kurt, the popular lead singer of grunge band Nirvana, whose suicide shocked the MTV youth culture in 1994. Perhaps this approach is an effective way of securing "street cred" amongst teen readers, but this hook feels opportunistic at times, particularly in "A Letter to Kurt Cobain," a three-page, sappy, metaphor-heavy eulogy in which Cobain rues that Kurt's handlers wouldn't give her the access that could have prevented his suicide. I understand the intent is to show the readers that she cared for someone they cared about and saw the beauty of his music and the tragedy of his death as they did, but to a non-teen reader, it rings hollow. Had Cobain been close with Kurt, a reader might not bawk at this inclusion, but she mentions that she did not know Kurt "personally," a fact that makes the multiple, casual mentions feel like name-dropping.
Recomended for any teen with dissapointment 2005-10-06
For the last year or so I had a few questions for myself. Why am I here? Whats my pourpose in life? Cant I just be dead? Dang do I wish I could give my life for some one else. This is really good book for any teen...
Not only is the author a good writer, it has a lot of good examples of other peoples life situations so you can auctly say "wow someone can really relate to my struggle".
Anyways, again its a good book and if you have any questions about it my hotmail address is [...]
When nothing mattered 2005-03-28
Nothing mattered anymore, my grades went down, i didn't care about life, i wanted to die. so i attempted suicide, my wrist is scarred and mutated, everyone said i was insane. then i heard from the family circle magazine about this book, and i swear this has helped me, and i'm so glad that not everyone thinks depressed teens are insane or stupid. and i'm glad there are people like lisa hurka covington that are talking to teens how valuable life is, and helping them sort out their problems.
Helps teens take an active role in beating depression 2005-01-09
This book combines compassion and empowerment with accurate information.
The author, a cousin of singer Curt Cobain, wrote this book to help make sense of her cousin's suicide. It is readable, knowledgeable and thorough. It helps adolescents understand what they might be feeling when they are depressed. It discusses how to interrupt the downward spiral and find a way out. The book covers both social and biological aspects of depression.
I felt that the author had a good intuitive grasp for how an adolescent might feel when he was in the depths of a depression. She reflects back the sense of isolation and hopelessness so that a depressed person feels understood. She provides information on how to get help when you don't feel that anyone out there is trustworthy.
She empowers teens by providing good information about the causes of depression and well as the treatments. For those who want more detailed information, she provides a resource list. I especially liked her section on how to stay healthy once you have recovered from the initial depression.
I have recommended this book to several teens. They felt that it made sense and was helpful
Not Like Most 2003-08-29
A guide to understanding and coping with depression, discussing the different types, how and why the condition begins, how it may be linked to substance abuse or suicide, and how to get help.
this book really helped me with my depression 2003-04-26
The day that i started reading this book i couldn't put it down because it was teaching me about my depresion. Now that i have completed it i feel that i know more about depression then i knew before.I shared it with my mom who is also depressed and she wants a copy of her own. iI think it is a very good book and i would defently would think that this book should be for depressed teens that want to learn more about depression. Even a teen without depression that wants to learn more about depression should read it. Thanks bev for writing this wondreful book.
This Book Helped Me Alot 2002-07-08
I took this book from the libraray after being kind of sad for a few months, and it actually helped me. If you are a teenager and you think that you might be depressed, then buy this book. After reading it I felt much more happier.
The tehniques that she gives are very easy-to-do, and they help! What else could you ask for? The book also includes personal stories of teenagers who were depressed and now are getting much better. (Not all of them are better because of the actions they took before they got help)
Love it 2002-05-13
This book is helping me understand that I am not the only teenager that goes throught depression. It is a helping book for me. I love it. I know that this book is going to help other teenagers with depression.
A survival guide indeed 2002-02-27
This book is worth the buy. if you are a depressed teen like i am i recommend this book for you. it has alot of survival tips,stories from teens who suffer and suffered from depression like me and you. reasons why we become depressed. different types of depression bipolor,major depression,dysthymia, and it also tells you ways to cope with your depression. this book is a survival guide indeed. it helps you understand your depression and it let's you know that your not the only one suffering from this illness. and there is help out there so if your a depressed teen please buy this book. it's worth the money and it will start you on the path to a better life.
