Paperback, 576 pages
English language
Published April 8, 2002 by Scribner.
Great and strong stories, a lot of quotes to think about. Really good book and informative.
The intention of the author is commendable, yet I couldn't get through the book. No stranger to the world of mental health, I thought this would be right up my alley. Yet I felt troubled by the disconnect between the author's efforts to demystify depression and construct empathy for its sufferers while maintaining a narrow vision of the affliction that boxed it firmly within the boundaries of science and medicine.
Framed as such, it is inevitable that the discussion will be limited to those spheres and the solutions found there as well (of course with some help from "public policy"). Such a mechanistic, prescribed approach to the psyche is inadequate and doomed to fail. In reading, I found myself consistently irritated by what wasn't said or allowed into the conversation - primarily the immaterial, messy and unquantifiable. Matters of the soul, the spiritual, the communal. Of belonging, alienation, meaning, being. …
The intention of the author is commendable, yet I couldn't get through the book. No stranger to the world of mental health, I thought this would be right up my alley. Yet I felt troubled by the disconnect between the author's efforts to demystify depression and construct empathy for its sufferers while maintaining a narrow vision of the affliction that boxed it firmly within the boundaries of science and medicine.
Framed as such, it is inevitable that the discussion will be limited to those spheres and the solutions found there as well (of course with some help from "public policy"). Such a mechanistic, prescribed approach to the psyche is inadequate and doomed to fail. In reading, I found myself consistently irritated by what wasn't said or allowed into the conversation - primarily the immaterial, messy and unquantifiable. Matters of the soul, the spiritual, the communal. Of belonging, alienation, meaning, being. Of the depths of the human experience and what events such as depression can signify and offer back to us as a means for us to become more fully ourselves.
There is certainly space and importance for psychology, medication, and biology in this matter, but to leave it at that is to frustrate a full exploration of a critically important phenomenon - just as this book frustrated me.
It's not a flawless 5-star read, but I'm rounding up a touch for the perspective it offers.
I was full of trepidation at the heaviness of the subject here, but in the end I am very glad I read it. He investigates depression from every angle including the view from his own break-ups, and talks to all sorts of people in many walks of life and parts of the world.
