2001, ISBN: 086547592X

[EAN: 9780865475922], Neubuch, [PU: North Point Press January 2001], DEPRESSION, MELANCHOLY, MELANCHOLIA, ACEDIA DARK NIGHT, MEMOIR, PSYCHOLOGY, Amidst the front matter preceding chapter … Meer...

[EAN: 9780865475922], Neubuch, [PU: North Point Press January 2001], DEPRESSION, MELANCHOLY, MELANCHOLIA, ACEDIA DARK NIGHT, MEMOIR, PSYCHOLOGY, Amidst the front matter preceding chapter one, Jeffery Smith chooses a few lines from poet Charles Wright's 'Apologia Pro Vita Sua' as his epigraph: There is forgetfulness in me which makes me descend / Into a great ignorance, / And makes me to walk in mud, though what I remember remains.What I remember redeems me, / strips me and brings me to rest. A clinically diagnosed depressive with a history of treatment-resistance, Jeffery Smith quits his chemical cocktail (consisting of three different powerful anti-depressants) after experiencing a frightening temporary paralysis. His fear catalyzes a shift in his approach and makes him consider whether (and how) a person can fruitfully live with depression rather than spend valuable resources trying to outrun it. In the tradition of Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy, and with a nod to the extensive cataloging in Melville's Moby Dick, Smith synthesizes a compelling geographical and natural history of depression-which he alternately calls clinical depression, melancholy, melancholia, acedia, and the dark night of the soul-spun with enough candid personal narrative to keep the prose moving. Referencing mythology, human biology, homeopathy, literature, humoral theory, theology, anthropology, and the biographies of several famous melancholics, Smith documents the authentic life he slowly and painfully discovers is possible as he chooses to let himself sink into his own story. Ultimately, forgiveness of self proves to be his biggest obstacle, and the reader may very well find himself not only rooting Smith on, but also glimpsing the nature of his own struggle., Books<

2001, ISBN: 9780865475922

North Point Press, January 2001. Paper Back. New. Amidst the front matter preceding chapter one, Jeffery Smith chooses a few lines from poet Charles Wright's 'Apologia Pro Vita … Meer...

North Point Press, January 2001. Paper Back. New. Amidst the front matter preceding chapter one, Jeffery Smith chooses a few lines from poet Charles Wright's 'Apologia Pro Vita Sua' as his epigraph: <i>There is forgetfulness in me which makes me descend / Into a great ignorance, / And makes me to walk in mud, though what I remember remains.What I remember redeems me, / strips me and brings me to rest.</i> A clinically diagnosed depressive with a history of treatment-resistance, Jeffery Smith quits his chemical cocktail (consisting of three different powerful anti-depressants) after experiencing a frightening temporary paralysis. His fear catalyzes a shift in his approach and makes him consider whether (and how) a person can fruitfully live with depression rather than spend valuable resources trying to outrun it. In the tradition of Burton's <i>Anatomy of Melancholy</i>, and with a nod to the extensive cataloging in Melville's <i>Moby Dick</i>, Smith synthesizes a compelling geographical and natural history of depression-which he alternately calls clinical depression, melancholy, melancholia, <i>acedia</i>, and the dark night of the soul-spun with enough candid personal narrative to keep the prose moving. Referencing mythology, human biology, homeopathy, literature, humoral theory, theology, anthropology, and the biographies of several famous melancholics, Smith documents the authentic life he slowly and painfully discovers is possible as he chooses to let himself sink into his own story. Ultimately, forgiveness of self proves to be his biggest obstacle, and the reader may very well find himself not only rooting Smith on, but also glimpsing the nature of his own struggle., North Point Press, 6<

ISBN: 9780865475922

Winner of the PEN/Martha Albrand Award for the Art of the Memoir Jeffery Smith was living in Missoula, Montana, working as a psychiatric case manager when his own clinical depression bega… Meer...

Winner of the PEN/Martha Albrand Award for the Art of the Memoir Jeffery Smith was living in Missoula, Montana, working as a psychiatric case manager when his own clinical depression began. Eventually, all his prescribed antidepressant medications proved ineffective. Unlike so many personal accounts, Where the Roots Reach for Water tells the story of what happened to Smith after he decided to give them up. Trying to learn how to make a life with his illness, Smith sets out to get at the essence of—using the old term for depression—melancholia. Deftly woven into his personal history is a natural history of this ancient illness. Drawing on centuries of art, writing and medical treatises, Smith finds ancient links between melancholia and spirituality, love and sex, music and philosophy, gardening, and, importantly, our relationship with landscapes. Trade Books>Trade Paperback>Psychology>Study of Psychology>Study of Psychology, Farrar, Straus and Giroux Core >1<