Search - Darkness Visible : A Memoir of Madness

Excellent, quick read. It was intriguing to read a memoir from someone who has lived through a suicidal depression. Suicide has had a lasting impact on my life. This book my shed some light for others on the debilitating effects of depression.

I read this book many years ago after a suicide attempt and two back-to-back hospitalizations for a seriously debilitating depression which I suffered with for years. Reading it was, at least for me, like walking hand in hand with a kindred soul who, unlike myself, was able to accurately describe the deep dark abyss of major depression. It was comforting like a warm blanket on a cold night. I highly recommend this book for anyone suffering from depression...but I espcially recommend it for anyone who has a loved one they suspect may be seriously depressed. Although there have been great strides in the treatment of depression since I went through it, depression is depression is depression and the person suffering from it is living in a hell all their own. Although dated, I firmly believe this book can provide understanding and can give hope to those who feel hopeless. Thank you Mr. Styron for one of the best books I ever read.

This is the famous writer's account of a sudden and devastating bout of suicidal depression. A short quotation: "My few hours of sleep were usually terminated at three or four in the morning, when I stared up into yawning darkness, wondering and writhing at the devastation taking place in my mind, and awaiting the dawn, which usually permitted me a feverish, dreamless nap." Easy to see why this essay has become a classic "illness memoir" that is read by mental-health professionals, those suffering melancholy, and those who want to understand what a friend or relative is suffering. And "suffering" is no exaggeration.

Great book for the person who needs to find more of an understanding of clinical depression and suicide. Easy read.