Against Depression - Hardcover

Kramer, Peter D.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0670034053 ISBN 13: 9780670034055

Publisher: Viking Adult, 2005

Synopsis

The best-selling author of Listening to Prozac examines depression from a historical and scientific perspective, challenging cultural beliefs that depression is a noble or romantic disorder linked to soulful or creative achievements, and calling for a greater awareness of depression's devastating impact, as well as renewed efforts to provide curative treatments.

About this title

Review:

Written as an answer to the question, "What if van Gogh had been on anti-depressants," Against Depression manages to be more of an exploration than a polemic, regardless of its title. While author Peter Kramer (Listening to Prozac) expresses a definite opinion--that disease of any sort should be treated as effectively as possible--he manages to express sympathy along with frustration about the recurring idea that soulful creativity often goes hand-in-hand with depression. Without ever being dismissive or particularly angry, his writing makes his point abundantly clear after the first chapter: The pervasive idea of depression serving a creative purpose is preposterous, as well as highly damaging.

While he draws from a number of recent studies on depression, the book is not meant to assist in the diagnosis or treatment of individuals, except in a very general sense. Instead, Kramer adds the findings of those studies into his thoughts on how patients modify medication doses for depression as they wouldn't for purely physical diseases, and looks into future possibilities of genetically modified stress hormone transmitters that could work to prevent a slide into chronic depression. In the arts, he examines the work of philosophers, painters and writers in relation to the reputation their personal lives have earned (critics and consumers alike believe that pain equals genius and lack of pain equals lack of depth). Adding Dineson, Bellow, Updike and Kierkegaard to the list headed by van Gogh, Kramer shows a variety of ways we live with the assumption that creative genius does not function without severe emotional strain.

While he does include a few stories from a patient to illustrate specific treatments, most of the book is slow and thoughtful, without ever being dry or pedantic. Useful to families or individuals who have encountered depression, this book offers excellent support for anyone--creative genius or otherwise--who struggle to define their talents as existing separately from their illness. Jill Lightner

About the Author:

Peter D. Kramer, a clinical professor of psychiatry at Brown University, is the author of Should You Leave?, Moments of Engagement, Spectacular Happiness, and the international bestseller Listening to Prozac.

About this edition

• Publisher: Viking Adult
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0670034053
• ISBN 13: 9780670034055
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 368