... I cam upon this link to Lewis Wolpert's Malignant Sadness. The opening paragraph simply stunned me. For me, depression has meant being down in dumps, the blues, what have you. Nothing like what Wolpert describes.
Frank, you are the last person I would call "shallow". Depression is a generally unappreciated territory. I have come to realise this only relatively recently myself. As I mentioned in my earlier comment about this book, I did not agree with all or perhaps even much of it. But I thought the description of depression was spot-on, and the review of what is known about it biologically a very comprehensible summary. St John's Wort, which Wolpert swears by, has come in for quite a bit of stick since then. Lewis Wolpert is a bit of a media guru over here nowadays, and I know many people find him irritating. So do I, sometimes. But like a lot of these science popularisers (eg Dawkins), there is some excellent writing to be found among other less appealing aspects. Another science populiser I have a lot of time for, and about whom people are rude, is Melvyn Bragg. (He goes far outside sciece, of course). And Frank, I am sure you will agree because M. B. comes from the Lake District -- his official title is Lord Bragg of Wigton, an admirable town.
Frank, you are the last person I would call "shallow".
ReplyDeleteDepression is a generally unappreciated territory. I have come to realise this only relatively recently myself.
As I mentioned in my earlier comment about this book, I did not agree with all or perhaps even much of it. But I thought the description of depression was spot-on, and the review of what is known about it biologically a very comprehensible summary.
St John's Wort, which Wolpert swears by, has come in for quite a bit of stick since then.
Lewis Wolpert is a bit of a media guru over here nowadays, and I know many people find him irritating. So do I, sometimes. But like a lot of these science popularisers (eg Dawkins), there is some excellent writing to be found among other less appealing aspects.
Another science populiser I have a lot of time for, and about whom people are rude, is Melvyn Bragg. (He goes far outside sciece, of course). And Frank, I am sure you will agree because M. B. comes from the Lake District -- his official title is Lord Bragg of Wigton, an admirable town.
Frank, this link does not work for me: I click it and what I get is "Blogger Site Not Found." Am I the only one for whom it is corrupted? No se.
ReplyDeleteI still say a wonderful book about depression and one of the first of its kind is the memoir by the late writer, William Styron: _Darkness Visible_.
Link fixed.
ReplyDelete