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Material Type | Library | Call Number | Suggested Age | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Book | Searching... Hurricane Public Library | 616.8527 RIL | Adult | Searching... Unknown |
| Book | Searching... Putnam Main Public Library | 616.8527 RIL | Adult | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
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 ).
Author Notes
Alex Riley is an award-winning science writer living in Bristol, UK. His work has been published by Aeon Magazine , the BBC, The Guardian , PBS's NOVA Next , and New Scientist , among others. In 2019, he received a best feature award from the Association of British Science Writers for his reporting on The Friendship Bench, a project that provides mental healthcare to low-income communities in Zimbabwe and has been adopted in countries around the world.
Reviews (2)
Kirkus Review
Eye-opening survey of the many shapes and forms of depression, from ancient history to today. As science writer Riley notes in his concise, refreshing debut book, depression is a vastly complex collection of overlapping mental states, the product of genes, neurotransmitters, upbringing, health, trauma, diet, lifestyle, and other factors. Though the depressed state of mind has always been with us, under many names and guises, there are distinct moments when it has drawn particular attention. The author delves into these moments with notable vigor, insight, and scientific background information. Riley begins in the early years of the first millennium C.E. with Galen and his theories about the four "humors," which would impact medical science for centuries to come, and then moves to the late ninth century and Abu Zayd al-Balkhi, who studied the effects of "negative thinking." Little progress was made until the first asylums in the 18th century, which focused on "respect, leisure, diet, light occupation, and a gradual realignment with reason and reality." As Riley moves into the formative work of Emil Kraepelin and Freud, he begins to weave in his own struggle with depression, effectively humanizing the narrative. The author provides a sturdy overview of the evolution of the psychoanalytical and biological worlds of psychiatry, from dementia praecox and manic depression to Freud's mission to "find what his patients were hiding away, to fill it with color and meaning." Treatments would rise and fall--e.g., various forms of lobotomies--and some would rise again (electroshock therapy). Riley discusses numerous studies and anecdotes to illustrate the positives and negatives of each approach to treatment, including modern-day investigations into cognitive behavioral therapy, psychoactive drugs (ayahuasca, LSD, etc.), and deep brain stimulation, often employed for patients whose "depression seemed intractable. A diversity of drugs--antidepressants, antipsychotics, tranquilizers, mood stabilizers--couldn't budge their mental anguish." A welcome examination, both studious and intimate, of one of humanity's great miseries. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Library Journal Review
Science writer Riley has spent the last six years dealing with depression, which has given him feelings of sadness and hopelessness as well as thoughts of suicide. The support of his wife and friends has helped him to seek treatment from psychiatrists, psychotherapists, neurologists, and others. His experience with a range of antidepressants, psychedelic drugs, cognitive-behavioral therapy, and other talk therapies inspired him to write this in-depth study of the history of depression, and to contemplate what the future might hold for this often debilitating disease. In his broadly researched and compassionate debut, Riley traces the history of treatments for depression and our changing understanding of the human brain. His exploration ranges from physician-philosopher Claudius Galen (129-c. 210 AD), to Sigmund Freud (who also dealt with depression), to contemporary researchers. After examining treatment options and the vast assortment of antidepressant drugs, Riley concludes that "the treatment of depression is a story that connects us all no matter our sex, age, or where we live," and that we might now be at a "turning point in the history of mental illness." VERDICT An essential book that brings much-needed awareness to depression and the lingering stigma and misinformation surrounding it.--Marcia G. Welsh, former with Dartmouth Coll. Lib., Hanover, NH
Table of Contents
| Introduction | p. 1 |
| Part 1 Cutting Steps into the Mountain | |
| The Anatomists | p. 17 |
| Über Coca | p. 33 |
| "Psychiatry's Linnaeus" | p. 42 |
| A Melancholic Humor | p. 47 |
| Instruments of Cure | p. 54 |
| The Talking Cure | p. 63 |
| Love and Hate | p. 74 |
| A First Sketch | p. 82 |
| Part 2 "The Biological Approach Seems to Be Working" | |
| Fighting Fire with Fire | p. 95 |
| Unfixing Thoughts | p. 100 |
| "The Brain Has Ceased to Be Sacred" | p. 107 |
| The Most Powerful Reaction | p. 124 |
| Legacy | p. 137 |
| Cerletti's Monster | p. 144 |
| The Psychic Energizers | p. 154 |
| The Shoes That Prozac Would Fill | p. 165 |
| G22355 | p. 173 |
| The Mysterious Case of the Lethal Headaches | p. 185 |
| Part 3 Getting Therapy | |
| In Your Dreams, Freud | p. 205 |
| More Than One Psychotherapy | p. 215 |
| "If Mom Ain't Happy Ain't Nobody Happy" | p. 227 |
| "Happier Than We Europeans" | p. 237 |
| Kufungisisa | p. 245 |
| Care by the Community | p. 257 |
| "I Live and Breathe Peer" | p. 266 |
| Part 4 The Universe Within | |
| It Feels Like Spring | p. 277 |
| Rebirth | p. 285 |
| The Epitome of Hopelessness | p. 297 |
| Mind on Fire | p. 301 |
| "For Life" | p. 312 |
| The Beginning | p. 326 |
| Surfing in the Brain Scanner | p. 329 |
| "Turn On, Tune In, and Drop Out" | p. 333 |
| Building a New System | p. 341 |
| Seeing with Eyes Shut | p. 349 |
| Epilogue: New Life | p. 359 |
| Notes | p. 367 |
| Selected Bibliography | p. 433 |
| Acknowledgments | p. 437 |
| Index | p. 439 |
