MALIGNANT SADNESS: THE ANATOMY OF DEPRESSION

Sinopsis de MALIGNANT SADNESS: THE ANATOMY OF DEPRESSION

Some years ago Lewis Wolpert had a severe depressive episode: despite a happy marriage and a successful scientific career, he could think only of suicide. When he eventually recovered, he became aware of the stigma attached to depression and of how difficult it was to get reliable information. So he undertook this written investigation into what science and psychiatry - and his own personal experience - could reveal about depression. Now with an additional introduction following the associated BBC2 series, this work also recounts the author's struggle with a second bout. After he captures the essence of his subject so succinctly in his title, it's a wonder that noted scientist Lewis Wolpert went on to write a whole book. Luckily for us, Malignant Sadness: The Anatomy of Depression lives up to its title, explaining the state of our knowledge and enlightening bystanders who have never been crippled by psychic pain about just what they're missing. Wolpert's training as a developmental biologist helps him sift through the scientific literature, while his devastating episode of depression is the base of his eloquent descriptions of its subjective experience. Far from a deficit, his lack of psychiatric training allows him to explore more freely the unclear and ambiguous depths of our understanding of this all-too-common ailment.