The Noonday Demon: An Atlas Of Depression
With uncommon humanity, candor, wit, and erudition, award-winning author Andrew Solomon takes the reader on a journey of incomparable range and resonance into the most pervasive of family secrets. His contribution to our understanding not only of mental illness but also of the human condition is...
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With uncommon humanity, candor, wit, and erudition, award-winning author Andrew Solomon takes the reader on a journey of incomparable range and resonance into the most pervasive of family secrets. His contribution to our understanding not only of mental illness but also of the human condition is truly stunning."The Noonday Demon" examines depression in personal, cultural, and scientific terms. Drawing on his own struggles with the illness and interviews with fellow sufferers, doctors and scientists, policymakers and politicians, drug designers and philosophers, Solomon reveals the subtle complexities and sheer agony of the disease. He confronts the challenge of defining the illness and describes the vast range of available medications, the efficacy of alternative treatments, and the impact the malady has had on various demographic populations around the world and throughout history. He also explores the thorny patch of moral and ethical questions posed by emerging biological explanations for mental illness.The depth of human experience Solomon chronicles, the range of his intelligence, and his boundless curiosity and compassion will change the reader's view of the world.
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Format: hardcover
ISBN:
9780684854663 (068485466X)
Publish date: June 12th 2001
Publisher: Scribner
Pages no: 576
Edition language: English
Category:
Non Fiction,
Autobiography,
Memoir,
Biography,
Science,
Health,
Self Help,
Psychology,
Medicine,
Mental Health,
Mental Illness
After slogging through a large chunk of The Noonday Demon, I've come to accept I just can't see it through to the end. This book is lethal: alternately depressing readers, boring readers, and making readers roll their eyes so hard they pop out of their heads.First: depression on any level, mild o...
Despite finding this to be a well-written book, I just can't recommend it. In many ways, Mr. Solomon's deductions about mental illness, primarily depression, were too sweeping. I've learnt over the years that each case and treatment has to be fine tuned, and that what works for one person, won't wor...
I was full of trepidation at the heaviness of the subject here, but in the end I am very glad I read it. He investigates depression from every angle including the view from his own break-ups, and talks to all sorts of people in many walks of life and parts of the world.