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Title: The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression by Andrew Solomon ISBN: 0-684-85467-8 Publisher: Scribner Pub. Date: April, 2002 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.28 (81 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: One critical insight
Comment: There is much more than that in, "The Noonday Demon" but for me, when I read the book and was struggling with how to cope with my own depression, one insight was enough.
Depression is a progressive disease. If you don't treat depression with medication or therapy it can get worse. That was enough to get me into treatment.
I also thought Solomon did an amazing job of showing how devastating severe depression can be; vertigo, throwing up and delusions yet he did not make people like myself with chronic though not severe depression feel slighted.
The overview sections were less effective but allowed the book to claim its title "An atlas of depression." It felt jarring to go from the intimate, personal account of a serious disease into a more abstract discussion of the various aspects of depression and yet I believe that was the point. Its not enough to see depression as the devastation wrecked upon a single life but as a widespread illness that fingers its way through so many aspects of so many lives.
Rating: 2
Summary: Another book that intellectualizes depression
Comment: Many people seem to really like this book. Im not one of them however. The reason I didnt like it was because of how the author broods about depression in an intellectual type way. To me, severe depression is nothing but a horrible medical disorder that is brain based and destroys lives and families. This book vastly over discusses all the psycho-social aspects of depression, whereas the emphasis should be on the neurolological underpinnings of depression. The root cause of depression...which is brain dysfunction.
In the end the author decides to undertake an extreme and very very rare treatment. He decides to undergo a cingulotomy, which is a modernized, high tech form of psychosurgery that is purely voluntary and very rarely done. This desperate last stand truly clarifies the bottom line, hard to accept fact that severe depression is a brain illness and not a "mental illness." The author could have left out a large portion of the book and instead focused more on the biological aspects of depression.
While this book does describe the "hell" of severe clinical depression, it also intellectualizes something that is basically a medical problem. I find this endless intellectual, "psychobabblish" rumination of a serious medical disease as distastful. Although unfortunately this is very common.
This book, while very readable and admittedly interesting, does a disservice to all severely mentally ill individuals by heavily discussing the overemphasized psycho-social aspects of depression.
Rating: 4
Summary: Andrew Explores the Depths of the "DEMON"...
Comment: Wow--the 1st phrase to come to my mind after consuming this beast of a book. But, it was 500+ pages that went down easy, if that's possible. Andrew Solomon is an intellectually engaging, and tirelessly thorough, author.This volume tackles depression from all angles--anecdotes, mythological beliefs throughout the ages, scientific analysis, and real-life (and very often disturbing) stories of real life people, and their various sufferings. The most unique, and "refreshing" aspect of the work, though, is Solomon's ongoing, in-depth analysis of his own frightening battle with the "demon". Andrew takes us deep into the ugliness he dips into far too often: his family tragedy, and how it has shaped him (for better or worse); his own battles with his sexuality, and how that contributes to the chaos; his circle of friends that play a huge role in his evolution as a manic depressive, and much more. Another positive about this book is that while it gets quite somber throughout, there are also many rays of hope and strength that emanate from the text--Overall, this is literally a helpful companion for those who might be suffering day in and day out with a heaviness of the heart, mind, and soul, as Andrew has an impressive knack to convey his suffering so that the reader might find a friend. You are not alone.
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Title: Darkness Visible : A Memoir of Madness by William Styron ISBN: 0679736395 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 08 January, 1992 List Price(USD): $11.00 |
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Title: Undoing Depression: What Therapy Doesn't Teach You and Medication Can't Give You by Richard O'Connor, Richard O'Conner ISBN: 0425166791 Publisher: Berkley Pub Group Pub. Date: January, 1999 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: An Unquiet Mind : A Memoir of Moods and Madness by Kay Redfield Jamison ISBN: 0679763309 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 14 January, 1997 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: On the Edge of Darkness : America's Most Celebrated Actors, Journalists and Politicians Chronicle TheirMost Arduous Journey by Kathy Cronkite ISBN: 0385314264 Publisher: Delta Pub. Date: 01 July, 1995 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: Unholy Ghost: Writers on Depression by Nell Casey ISBN: 0060007826 Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 08 January, 2002 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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