Personal Memoirs: Depression
*Darkness Visible: A Memoir of Madness†
William Styron
A chilling account of his descent into, and recovery from, an almost suicidal depression by a Pulitzer prizewinning author. A national bestseller.
The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression†
Andrew Solomon
The Noonday Demon forges a long, brambly path through the subject of depression-exposing all the discordant views and 'answers' offered by science, philosophy, law, psychology, literature, art, and history. The result is a sprawling and thoroughly engrossing study, brilliantly synthesized by author Andrew Solomon.
Prozac Nation: Young and Depressed in America: A Memoir
Elizabeth Wurtzel
Painful, poignant, and ultimately triumphant, Prozac Nation is Elizabeth Wurtzel's catharsis-a cry of rage at the chronic depression which has dominated most of her young life. A powerful portrait of one girl's journey through the purgatory of depression.
Undercurrents: A Life Beneath the Surface
Martha Manning
This powerfully gripping account of a therapist's reckoning with her own severe depression is a breathtaking gem of a book, heartrending, hilarious, extraordinarily human.
The Beast: A Journey Through Depression
Tracy Thompson
In an eloquent, unflinchingly honest autobiography, a journalist recounts her struggle with depression, which culminated in a terrifying bout with suicide, and her search for an understanding of and a cure for it.
Standing In the Shadows: Understanding and Overcoming Depression in Black Men
John Head
Head, a veteran journalist and a success by any objective standard, shares his 25-year struggle with depression within the context of the kinds of social and cultural forces that can cause depression in black men and, at the same time, discourage acknowledgment or treatment of that depression.
Willow Weep for Me: A Black Woman's Journey Through Depression
Meri Nana-Ama Danquah
The author, a black single mother and Ghanian-born immigrant, has battled melancholy and despair, culminating in episodes of overwhelming depression. In this brutally painful memoir she reveals how her illness began, how it progressed to the point where she couldn't function, and how she finally got the support she needed to help combat it.
Skin Game
Caroline Kettlewell
A memoir of self-mutilation by a woman who grew up cutting herself with razors in an attempt to relieve the depression and anxiety she felt.
Unholy Ghost: Writers on Depression
Nell Casey
This is a collection of modern essays about depression by writers who know their subject intimately. William Styron's excerpt and his wife's contribution demonstrate a wonderful partnership - a good role model for friends and family in the wife and a classic sufferer of depression in the husband.