The first book to unmask the hidden face of depression. If you look fine on the outside but don’t feel fine on the inside, learn five tools to break the cycle of High Functioning Depression and experience more joy in your life.

HIGH FUNCTIONING:
Overcome Your Hidden Depression and Reclaim Your Joy
by Dr. Judith Joseph
Little, Brown Spark, April 2025
(via Kaplan/DeFiore Rights)

Many of us experience periods in our lives when something feels “off”: when we struggle to find joy in happy moments, and take little pleasure in things we used to enjoy. We might be motivated and productive at work, pulling our weight at home, and conducting a normal social life—but behind that façade we are barely surviving, and certainly not thriving.

We’re all familiar with what depression can look like, but there’s another, lesser known face to this illness. High functioning depression (HFD) doesn’t conform to the image of depression that typically comes to mind. As a result, people with HFD often have no idea why they are suffering, or what to do about it.

In High Functioning, Dr. Judith Joseph reveals that what we’re feeling is not simply “negativity” or stress. Drawing on original research, client cases, and her personal experience with HFD, Dr. Judith radically shifts the way those of us with HFD see ourselves, and empowers us with five simple tools to reclaim our lives from this widespread yet poorly understood condition.

By following her 5 V’s – validation, venting, values, vision, and vitals – we can wake up happier, find more satisfaction in our relationships, and feel better in the present while also looking forward to the future.

Judith Joseph MD, MBA, is a board-certified child, adolescent, and adult psychiatrist and researcher who specializes in mental health and trauma. She is the founder of and chief investigator at Manhattan Behavioral Medicine, New York City’s premier clinical research site, a clinical assistant professor in child and adolescent psychiatry at NYU Langone Medical Center in Manhattan, and chairwoman of the Women in Medicine Board at Columbia University’s Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. As one of social media’s favorite psychiatrists, Dr. Judith gets over 15 million views a month. Her Instagram, full of funny, role-playing videos and revealing insights, got more than 10 million impressions and her TikToks were viewed more than 5 million times just last month alone. She holds an undergraduate degree from Duke as well as a medical doctorate and master’s in business administration from Columbia.