Against Depression

by Peter D. Kramer

Book Overview

The bestselling author of Listening to Prozac, which revolutionized the way the public thinks about antidepressants and the culture in which they are so widely used, returns with a profound and original look at the condition those medications treat--depression.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0670034053
• ISBN13: 9780670034055
• Release Date: May 2005
• Publisher: Viking Books
• Length: 353 Pages
• Weight: 0.83 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.4" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

There's nothing good about depression

Kramer wrote this book after being deluged by stories of depression, depression research, and patients after he wrote Listening to Prozac. While touring for his previous books, he would often be asked a question, "what if Van Gogh had taken prozac?" The real question he's being asked is whether depression should be cured, or whether curing depression would take away something that is an essential part of being human. The book is really making the argument "against depression" - there is nothing romantic or especially meaningful about it. He writes, convicingly, that depression is a disease that has specific physical indications. The physical causes of this disease are close to being understood. He writes that other diseases - such as tuberculosis (then called consumption) - used to have romantic implications. They are now considered just ordinary diseases that need to be cured. While making this point, he touches on treatments for depression - some of them incredibly clever - that may be coming out over the next 5 to 20 years. If you have suffered from depression and are not sure how you think about it - along the lines of the book: "should I be cured, or if I get treatment will I lose 'part of myself'?" then I'd highly recommend this book. Also recommended if the underlying question is interesting to you - maybe you know someone who suffers from depression, or are just curious about the human condition.

A potential landmark

Against Depression may be the most significant book I've read on the topic of depression, combining new scientific research with cultural and social criticism. The book chronicles new developments in the science of the brain, highlighting the lack of resilience in certain parts of the brain in the depressed. Using this physical description of depression, Kramer argues persuasively that depression should be considering a disease in the same literal sense as other physical illnesses such as cancer. Assuming that depression is, in fact, a disease, Kramer wonders why the culture still romanticizes depression in a way that it doesn't for other diseases. In particular he addresses the supposed role of depression in art. He argues that difference, not depression in particular is valuable to writing and art. He believes that certain aspects of both the artistic and the depressive temperament, such as feelings of alienation from society, can still be valuable to art, as long as the feeling of alienation is not simply a product of a depressive illness. Kramer's longstanding interest in literature and the arts was particularly engrossing to this reader. He argues that depression is one of the most pressing health concerns confronting the world, with major depression being more debilitating than many other, more obviously "physical" illnesses, and often striking much earlier in life. Particularly noteworthy is that Major Depression is a progressive illness in the same sense as cancer; if not treated properly early on, recurrences tend to be more frequent and more severe. Non-treatment can eventually lead to permanent debilitation. Kramer covers all of this ground in a sparkling prose style that raises Against Depression above other purely academic tracts on the topic. The book includes a wealth of information while being extremely readable and engaging at the same time.

Must read for Doctors and Ethicist

This book is a very thoughtful look at depression in society. Dr Kramer sets himself up as an intellectual warrior against depression and draws a line in the sand, making an argument against anyone who will romanticize, or dismiss this devastating disorder. Although this book is much less reader friendly, than his best selling Listening to Prozac, and for the most part, it is less heartening with good news currently available, it does point to a future, where, at last we can view depression as an insidious disease, and put the resources to its eradication that it deserves.

The Most Important Book You Will Read About Depression.

How this debilitating illness ever became romaticiszed is beyond me. But no one who has ever suffered truly suffered from depression could ever look back with nostalgia on the experience. This is why Dr. Kramer's book resonates with such reason and common sense, if not humane-ness and compassion. We live in an age when it has become fashionable to be content with your suffering; to be the "walking wounded." The gliteratti flaunt their pathology endlessly on the daytime talk shows without shame, and depression is the sickness of choice. But Peter Kramer has de-legitimized this romantic notion that somehow there is some virtue in suffering and debunks this myth and exposes depression for what it is; an insidious disease that sucks the life out of its victim and, if left untreated, robs the sufferer of his or her joy, health, spirituality, livlihood, friends, romances, family, and, ultimately life. This work is an important dialogue about an illness that has reached pandemic levels worldwide as a public health crisis. Depression is real, it is measurable, quantifiable, verifiable, and, thankfully, treatable. Dr. Kramer has performed a valuable public service with this work and clinician and consumer alike should read this book to understand this terrible maladay, especially if you are know or are living with someone who has been diagnosed with depression.

Captures the true experience of depression.

This is, hands down, the best book I have ever read about the multifocal and devastating effects of depression. It is extremely well researched, thoughtful, and is exactly the book that is needed to dispel the erroneous notions that persist regarding depression. There is nothing at all charming or intriguing about depression.