Author of "Darkness Visible", William Styron, has died.

[zanne]

Author of "Sophie's Choice", "The Confessions of Nat Turner" and "Darkness Visible" died of pneumonia at age 81.
I don't know how many of you have read "Darkness Visible", but it is a memoir of his first bout with clinical depression. When I read it, I realized it was the first and only time someone had been able to describe clinical depression in any real way. I wouldn't be able to re-read the book right now, because I'm currently depressed and it's so real I'm afraid it'd put me over the edge.
If you're not a victim of clinical depression and know someone who is, I highly recommend that you read it. You'll understand so much more about this terrible illness. I once gave a copy of it to my therapist and, after reading it, she said "Does it really get that bad"?

[mrgorth]

1. Don't get mad at me

I've described it as debilitating. Like being crushed and torn apart at the same time. Also, like every cell in your body wants to get away from every other cell.

[zanne]

2. Yes, it just tears you apart, doesn't it?

Sometimes existence just seems impossible, but we have to deal with the impossibility of it and go on anyway.

[hedgehog]

3. It sounds weird, but I have a small collection of first person

memoirs about depression and bi-polar disease. I think the Bell Jar romanticizes depression, but more recent books are more honest.

[zanne]

4. Well, reading pamphlets and articles about depression...

Just doesn't do it. My favorite part of "The Bell Jar" is the title. I understand the feeling of isolation that depression brings, like being in a bell jar.

[hedgehog]

5. I think of it as my version of group therapy.

I certainly pick up on different cultural reactions to depression. Some people seem to enjoy wallowing in it as evidence of their superior sensitivity while others fight to get normal.

[mrgorth]

6. audio

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6428903