Prozac Nation

This is one of the best books I've ever read. I bought this and read this 6 years ago and its something that has stuck with me. It has a special place in my heart.

Now, I want to preface this by saying that unless you can personally relate to Elizabeth Wurtzel's problems, you probably won't like or understand this book. Critics often say she is narcissistic; people claim she is nothing more than an egotistical, bratty girl trapped in the body of an intelligent adult. However, the majority of these people have never suffered from severe depression. I have. So take it from me when I say that this is an EXCELLENT honest and witty portrayal of depression. It has gotten me through A LOT of my own problems. But I am warning you, that if you cannot personally relate, you may think she just likes to hear herself talk, or, I should say, see herself write. Critics sometimes give the book bad reviews and I think that's because so few people understand the true notion of depression. It is a VERY self-centering disease. You're literally trapped inside yourself; you cannot break free from your own mental prison in order to engage in normal society. Even when you ARE seemingly engaging, you're really not. Few people understand that. If you are one of those people who doesn't understand depression, who says that clinically depressed people should just "buck up and get over it", I wouldn't suggest reading the book, because you probably won't like it. But if you're not like that then give it a chance. It's really very good.

I finished reading Prozac Nation a few days ago, and Elizabeth's words are still echoing in my head. She suffered for so many years, until people finally began to take her disease seriously. It angers me how the world used to be (and still is) so quick to dismiss depression as just some passing emotion. IT'S NOT. This is a serious illness, and while I don't favor the drugs in the market for it, they really have seemed to help the author, quite literally saving her life. Elizabeth's candid, no-holds-barred memoir really spoke to me, showing me the darker side of suicide, and I just wanted to reach out to her, giver her a hug, and tell her that I knew exactly how she felt. This book should be read by anyone trying to gain a deeper understanding of depression, and ESPECIALLY if they suffer from it as well.

As someone who has experienced the excruciating feelings and craziness of depression (and its close cousin, obsessive-compulsive disorder), I must say that Wurtzel's candid, no-apologies-offered writing hits the nail on the head. Naming the misery as she does--calling it what it is--takes the edge off the pain, the embarrassment, the feelings of aloneness. Feeling like I'm losing my mind -- literally -- is one of the loneliest, scariest experiences I've ever known. When you've got company, it means a lot; one crazy person doesn't feel quite so isolated when she knows someone else shares that craziness. If you haven't experienced this degree of depression and anxiety, I'm not sure how well you could really appreciate this book. Continuous references to death and darkness and emptiness begin to grate on your nerves, I imagine. Depression, in my experience, is really all about reality without hope. In this respect, it's a blessing and a curse --a gift because it enables the afflicted to see through life's props and lies with amazing clarity, a curse because it is so weighty and powerful that it shuts out the light and promise that really is present. Wurtzel tells the reality part of it like it is. She doesn't moralize, doesn't worry about offending--she just wants to get it out there on paper, which she does. Sometimes I think this is just what the doctor should order (and some of them do).