Biographies about depression
The 32 Best Books About Depression—Whether You’re Struggling Or Not
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Ned Vizzini It's Kind of a Funny Story
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If you've ever felt an overwhelming pressure (or pressures) to succeed, Ned Vizzini's novel, which was also turned into a movie, will definitely strike a chord. After being accepted into an elite New York City private school, Craig Gilner begins to buckle under stress, spiraling into drug use and depression—until he nearly kills himself. After this suicidal episode, Craig checks himself into a mental health facility, where he's finally able to confront his crippling thoughts and anxieties free from the unbearable pressures of school, friends, and family.
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Andrew Solomon The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression
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A National Book Award winner and bestselling Pulitzer Prize finalist, this nonfiction novel is known as one of the most thorough examinations of depression. Inspired by his own difficulties with the disease, Andrew Solomon dove deeply into research, countless interviews, and reflections to ultimately provide readers with a look at the subtle complexities, undeniable pain, and reasons for hope surrounding depression. Solomon's book is where science meets society meets the personal—all in an effort to define and describe depression.
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Stephen Chbosky The Perks of Being a Wallflower
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Before it was turned into a major motion picture, The Perks of Being a Wallflower made a name for itself as a New York Times best seller that tells the coming-of-age story of Charlie, an introverted teen grieving over a friend's suicide. Composed as a series of letters Charlie writes to an unknown recipient, the book takes readers on the equally hilarious and devastating journey that is high school.
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Jay Asher 13 Reasons Why
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The book that inspired the Netflix series, 13 Reasons Why tells the story of what In the autumn of 2015, I felt numb, worthless, and had thoughts of ending my life. I was 25 years old and I was experiencing my first bout of depression, an illness that has ebbed and flowed ever since. At first, I was hesitant to take medication and opted for a course of cognitive behavioural therapy. I worried that medication would dampen my brain, dull my experience of the world and my ability to describe it. Only later did I find that the right drug is a key tool for my career. When I’m stable I can write. When I’m depressed, I can barely walk or talk. There are many writers who have struggled with 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 skirts the extremes of mood and suffering can make for bold and creative books – there is also the possibility that the life of a writer is a seedbed for depression. With variable income, social isolation, disturbed sleep, and constant critical judgment from readers and peers, is it any wonder that writers are particularly prone to this illness? For me, this ignores the positives of the occupation. In writing A Cure for Darkness: The Story of Depression and How We Treat It, I found stability in purpose. I felt free to explore topics as diverse as the history of ECT, the role of psychedelic drugs in psychiatry, and even to travel to Zimbabwe to meet a group of grandmothers who stand at the forefront of a revolution in mental healthcare. I’m far from the first person to find that writing books can be a salve for the suffering mind. In the 17th century, Robert Burton researched and wrote The Anatomy of Melancholy to keep his mind from slipping into the very topic on which he focused his attention. For its breadth and timelessness, his tome is the first of my Top 10. Author Elizabeth Wurtzel’s groundbreaking biography about depression Prozac Nation inspired many other confession-style biographies. Ms. Wurtzel died from metastasized cancer on January 7, 2020. Here is a selected list of biographies that discuss mental health or addiction held in the University of Iowa Libraries collections. Prozac nation: young and depressed in America / Elizabeth Wurtzel, 1994 Tweak: growing up on methamphetamines / Nic Sheff, 2007 The mother knot: a memoir/ Kathryn Harrison, 2004 (anorexia) The recovering: intoxication and its aftermath / Leslie Jamison, 2018 RX: a graphic memoir / Rachel Lindsay, 2018 (bipolar disorder, insurance struggles) The years of silence are past: my father’s life with bipolar disorder / Stephen P. Hinshaw, 2002 Will’s choice: a suicidal teen, a desperate mother, and a chronicle of recovery / Gail Griffith, 2005 Marbles: mania, depression, Michelangelo, and me: a graphic memoir / Ellen Forney, 2012 The center cannot hold: my journey through madness / Elyn R. Saks, 2007 (schizophrenia) Getting off: one woman’s journal through sex and porn addiction / Erica Garza, 2018 A house on stilts: mothering in the age of opioid addiction- a memoir / Paula Becker, 2019 Liar: a memoir / Rob Roberge, 2019 (substance abuse) FacebookTweet Diseases have a history, and understanding that history helps us understand how best to treat and control disease today. Today's students are confronted with a panoply of often-frightening illnesses and afflictions - the Biography of Diseases series provides students with the information that they need to understand the origin of various maladies, how they impact contemporary society, and how doctors and researchers from around the world are fighting to devise treatments to alleviate or cure these diseases. This volume, Depression, addresses a disease that confronts millions of young people every year, causing significant damage to their emotional and physical health. Depression examines all aspects of the affliction, including: Depression through the ages, from its earliest mention to the present, including how depression is portrayed in the arts. The demographics of the disorder - who is most likely to have depression, and what the prognosis would be. The clinical description of depression, including both physical and psychological symptoms. Current techniques for testing for depression, including DNA testing and brain scans. An examination of the current research, and the possible treatments for the future. The volume includes a glossary of important terms and a bibliography of accessible works that discuss the disease. "synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.Top 10 books about depression
Depression (Biographies of Disease) - Hardcover
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