In the fall of 2015, I felt numb, worthless, and had thoughts of ending my life. I was 25 years old and experiencing my first bout of depression, an illness that has had its ups and downs ever since. At first, I was hesitant to take medication and opted for a course of cognitive behavioral therapy. I worried that the medication would dampen my brain, dull my experience of the world and my ability to describe it. only later did I discover that the right drug is a key tool for my career. when I am stable I can write. when I’m depressed, I can barely walk or talk.
There are many writers who have battled depression and still had successful careers: william styron, jk rowling, sylvia plath, virginia woolf, charlotte perkins gilman, samuel johnson, to name just a few. While the link between mental illness and creative writing has become a stereotype (a ruminating mind that borders on extremes of mood and suffering can lead to bold and creative books), there is also the possibility that A writer’s life is a hotbed for depression. With variable income, social isolation, disturbed sleep, and constant critical judgment from readers and peers, is it any wonder writers are particularly prone to this disease?
You are reading: Books to read about depression
To me, this ignores the positive aspects of the occupation. In writing A Cure for the Dark: The Story of Depression and How We Treat It, I found stability of purpose. i felt free to explore topics as diverse as the history of ect, the role of psychedelics in psychiatry, and even travel to zimbabwe to meet a group of grandmothers who are at the forefront of a revolution in mental health care .
I am far from the first person to discover that writing books can be a balm for the suffering mind. In the 17th century, Robert Burton researched and wrote The Anatomy of Melancholy to prevent his mind from drifting to the subject on which he focused his attention. Because of its breadth and timelessness, his tome is the first of my top 10. Building on this historical foundation, I then travel through a diversity of voices and experiences, each representing a milestone in the way we understand, we treat and eliminate the stigma of depression. As one of the loneliest and, paradoxically, one of the most common human experiences, the understanding found in these books can offer a vital kind of companionship for the isolated victim.
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1. The Anatomy of Melancholy by Robert Burtonburton, a scholar who lived in Oxford in the 17th century, spent his entire life adding to and refining this book. it is not just a commentary on depression and its treatment, but he considers melancholy as a state of mind that ranges from sadness to madness. the whole spectrum of depression, in other words. Notions of black bile and spiritual fumes aside, his advice is surprisingly modern: exercise more, occupy your mind, reconnect with nature, eat right.
2. Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s Yellow Wallpaper After giving birth to her first child in 1885, Perkins Gilman sank into a deep depression. “I would rather have had a baby every week than suffer as I suffered in my mind,” she wrote in her autobiography. “a constant tiredness that drags kilometers below zero. absolute disability. absolute misery.” her treatment and the feeling that she was close to becoming psychotic led her to this novel, which only became a classic after her death. is a chilling account of postpartum depression and psychosis, and how women’s mental health has long been misunderstood and neglected.
3. Visible Darkness by William Styron At only 98 pages in my edition, this is by far the shortest book on depression I have ever read. it is a classic view of “typical” melancholic depression. but it is also a reminder of recovering from a deep sense of hopelessness. antidepressants saved styron. self-aware, it also provides a reminder that memoirs are often ill-prepared in discussing their condition: “depression is too complex in its cause, its symptoms, and its treatment to draw unqualified conclusions from a person’s experience.” single individual,” he writes.
4. the midday demon by andrew solomon an encyclopedia of depression that is astounding in its breadth and intimacy. It includes harrowing moments when solomon, struggling with his own depression, tries to contract hiv from a homeless person because he believes he alone deserves death.
5. Deborah Blum’s Love at Goon Park Harry Harlow’s work and her separation experiments with monkeys are infamous. the mother in the wire cage, the clown faces, and the baby monkey clinging to the inanimate breast are symbols of animal cruelty in science. Blum offers a cinematic exploration of Harlow’s life and career, revealing her own struggles with depression and how her work helped reveal the importance of love and attachment in mental health.
6. madness first class by nassir ghaemi a welcome reminder of the potential benefits of mental illness on society. Whether it’s empathy, courage, or leadership in a crisis, the idea that people with a history of depression can perform better than people without that experience is compelling. It’s a shame this book has focused exclusively on male leaders with mental illness. could ghaemi have covered the work of jane addams, for example, someone who battled depression and received a nobel prize for her humanitarian work?
7. a restless mind by kay redfield jamison a personal journey through mental illness and the clinical psychologist and author’s struggles to accept that medication was the right option for her. manic depression (or bipolar disorder) is very different from “unipolar” depression, but still shares much of the stigma, life choices, and treatments.
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8. thrive by richard layard and david m clarkfor anyone looking for information on the power of cognitive behavioral therapy, this is one of the most up-to-date reports on how it works, when it should be used, and how long its effects can last. For the right person, CBT can override the negative thoughts that cause and maintain a depressive episode.
9. shock by kitty dukakis and larry tye while dukakis provides a personal account of severe depression and its treatment with electroconvulsive therapy (ect), tye brings a journalist’s broader perspective to the evidence behind this treatment stigmatized. Together, they make a compelling and balanced argument for their continued use, especially for severe depression unresponsive to other, less aggressive treatments.
10. The Inflamed Mind by Ed Bullmore An accessible insight into psychoneuroimmunology, the study of inflammation, the brain, and mental illness. while the subtitle, a radical new approach to depression, suggests that it is a new science, it actually emerged decades ago and, as the author explains, has now found support in numerous fields of study. epidemiology, immunology, and anti-inflammatory trials are finding that a subset of depression stems from chronic low-grade inflammation.
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a cure for the dark: the history of depression and how we treat it by alex riley published by ebury press. To order a copy, go to guardianbookshop.com.
In the UK and Ireland, the Samaritans can be contacted by calling 116 123 or by emailing jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the United States, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. in australia, the crisis support service helpline is 13 11 14. other international helplines can be found at www.befrienders.org.
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