Against Depression
Published by Penguin Random House Audio
4/5
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Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this audiobook
In his landmark bestseller Listening to Prozac, Peter Kramer revolutionized the way we think about antidepressants and the culture in which they are so widely used. Now Kramer offers a frank and unflinching look at the condition those medications treat: depression. Definitively refuting our notions of “heroic melancholy,” he walks readers through groundbreaking new research—studies that confirm depression’s status as a devastating disease and suggest pathways toward resilience. Thought-provoking and enlightening, Against Depression provides a bold revision of our understanding of mood disorder and promises hope to the millions who suffer from it.
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Reviews for Against Depression
52 ratings5 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This is a magnificent book, definitely required reading for those who have suffered from major depression or anyone who has ever been close to a depressive. Kramer (the author of the also-excellent Listening to Prozac) makes it clear from the start that he believes that depression is an insidious disease that does not deserve the romanticization that has long surrounded it. He compares depression and the culture of melancholy to the way people used to romanticize tuberculosis, which used to be seen as a romantic disease that indicated refinement and tragic beauty. He offers up a lot of evidence to back up his beliefs, both from his own practice and from scientific studies that illustrate the physical effects (and possible causes) of depression. Even so, he is not unsympathetic to the impulses that lead us to romanticize depression and feel uncomfortable about the idea of eradicating it completely, and this book never edges into polemic. Reading it is sort of like having a series of dinner table talks with a very intelligent friend.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5On balance a very solid work, though the author makes no bones that he is anything close to be objective when it comes to this topic. Of particular interest was the discussion the most recent developments re: the physiology of the brain in this area, and his thoughts on how neuroscience may change things in the future.The first part of the book ("what if") was the weakest, get through that and you'll find the rest of the work excellent.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This book is a wake up call to anyone who has been ambivelent about the treatment of depression, either in themselves or in someone close to them. Peter Kramer explains, systematically and convincingly, why depression is a disease that needs to be treated agressively and not a temperament or attitude that should be clung to for it's side benefits. The explanation is easily understood and engaging. Altogether an enlightening book.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5As the author lectured on depression, after the success of his previous book “Listening to Prozac” he heard the question “What if Van Gogh had been on prozac?” many times. This prompted the current volume, a statement of why he thinks depression is a disease, debilitating, and deserving treatment, not a fashionable affliction. He cites multiple scientific studies documenting the association of depression with neuronal cell death due to stress hormone effects, particularly the work of Robert Sapolsky in cell culture. He cites numerous statistics showing how very prevalent depression is, how much is costs to care for and the significant health problems it causes. He also tackles the associations of depression in the popular mind with deep thought, with artistic creation, and the idea that depression is a state of mind that is a thoughtful response to the sorry state of the world. He notes that women who are depressed are often attractive to men of a certain type, and that depression is often viewed as charming by others. The argument is wide, citing sources from art and literature, science and personal experience with his patients. I found it convincing, and appreciated his view that depression is a lack of resilience to stress.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A very readable and encouraging book about the current thinking and research on depression as a disordered chemistry of the brain. .