A cure for darkness : the story of depression and how we treat it
by Riley, Alex (Science writer),
| Print Book 2021 |
| Available at 10 Libraries 10 of 10 copies |
Summary
A fascinating, "rich, and generous" ( Financial Times ) look at the treatment of depression by an award-winning science writer that blends popular science, narrative history, and memoir.
Is depression a persistent low mood, or is it a range of symptoms? Can it be expressed through a single diagnosis, or does depression actually refer to a diversity of mental disorders? Is there, or will there ever be, a cure? In seeking the answers to these questions, Riley finds a rich history of ideas and treatments--and takes the reader on a gripping narrative journey, packed with fascinating stories like the junior doctor who discovered that some of the first antidepressants had a deadly reaction with cheese.
"Interweaving memoir, case histories, and accounts of new therapies, Riley anatomizes what is still a fairly young science, and a troubled one" ( The New Yorker ). Reporting on the field of global mental health from its colonial past to the present day, Riley highlights a range of scalable therapies, including how a group of grandmothers stands on the frontline of a mental health revolution.
Hopeful, fascinating, and profound, A Cure for Darkness is "recommended reading for anyone with even a peripheral interest in depression" ( Washington Examiner ).
Is depression a persistent low mood, or is it a range of symptoms? Can it be expressed through a single diagnosis, or does depression actually refer to a diversity of mental disorders? Is there, or will there ever be, a cure? In seeking the answers to these questions, Riley finds a rich history of ideas and treatments--and takes the reader on a gripping narrative journey, packed with fascinating stories like the junior doctor who discovered that some of the first antidepressants had a deadly reaction with cheese.
"Interweaving memoir, case histories, and accounts of new therapies, Riley anatomizes what is still a fairly young science, and a troubled one" ( The New Yorker ). Reporting on the field of global mental health from its colonial past to the present day, Riley highlights a range of scalable therapies, including how a group of grandmothers stands on the frontline of a mental health revolution.
Hopeful, fascinating, and profound, A Cure for Darkness is "recommended reading for anyone with even a peripheral interest in depression" ( Washington Examiner ).
Contents
part 1. Cutting steps into the mountain: The anatomists ; Über Coca ; "Psychiatry's Linnaeus" ; A melancholic humor ; Instruments of cure ; The talking cure ; Love and hate ; A first sketchpart 2. "The biological approach seems to be working": Fighting fire with fire ; Unfixing thoughts ; "The brain has ceased to be sacred" ; The most powerful reaction ; Legacy ; Cerletti's monster ; The psychic energizers ; The shoes that Prozac would fill ; G22355 ; The mysterious case of the lethal headaches
part 3. Getting therapy: In your dreams, Freud ; More than one psychotherapy ; "If mom ain't happy ain't nobody happy" ; "Happier than we Europeans" ; Kufungisisa ; Care by the community ; "I live and breathe peer"
part 4. The universe within: It feels like spring ; Rebirth ; The epitome of hopelessness ; Mind on fire ; "For life" ; The beginning ; Surfing in the brain scanner ; "Turn on, tune in, and drop out" ; Building a new system ; Seeing with eyes shut
Epilogue: New life.
Additional Information
| Subjects |
Depression, Mental
-- History.
Depression, Mental -- Treatment -- History. Biographies. |
| Publisher | New York :Scribner,2021 |
| Edition | First Scribner hardcover edition. |
| Language |
English |
| Description |
xi, 452 pages ; 24 cm |
| Bibliography Notes |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 367-436) and index. |
| ISBN | 9781501198779 1501198777 |
| Other | Classic View |