Shoot the Damn Dog: A Memoir of Depression

Light reading it is not but if you want an honest and intelligent book about the soul's dark times, you have found it. There is no need to agree with everything that is being said in the book, but it does bring some relief to know that depression is not solely your own personal woe. It is also interesting as a very open and sincere account of this half-mysterious illness in today's world.

I have to admit I didn't know much, ok anything, about Sally Brampton, before picking up this book. Brampton was a successful writer, columnist and founding editor of (British) "Elle" magazine. Then her world fell apart. In "Shoot the Damn Dog" (326 pages), the author brings her harrowing tale of descending into a full-blown depression, and the harrowing and life-changing consequences it had on her, and it has on many people. In the early part of the book, Brampton retells how she managed to be so successful. As Brampton makes clear, her depression came about by not just one singular event, but by many. She was let go as the editor of "Red" magazine, a devastating event, that was then compounded by other events, including a failed marriage and the death of a close event. On the termination of het stint at "Red", the author observes "So the failure of my editorship at "Red" was not simply the failure of a job. It was the destruction of an absolute truth about myself". The author's tales of her numerous visits and stays into various hospitals are equally devastating. At one point she observes "I thought that if I went into hospital, I would become well. I thought a pill could make me better. The failure of both to do either was almost more catastrophic for me than the illness itself". Wow. This book is not for the faint of heart, although having emerged from her long bout, the author shares with us that "It;s two years since I emerged from depression and I no longer want myself dead. I want myself alive. I am no longer my own enemy." That's about as 'uplifting' as this book gets, but then again this book is not so much about uplifting as it is about making us understand that depression is an illness, a very serious one, yet one from which one can emerge victoriously, albeit one day at the time.

Ms. Brampton has written the book that all depressive people and their families have been waiting for. She writes the truth about therapy and medication in a clear and readable manner. She tells her story without trying to make you feel sorry for her but to encourage others who face the darkness of depression.

I have never been formally diagnosed with depression, yet like most people I guess, I have had spells of 'the blues' and feelings of melancholia at times. I have however a mother who has suffered from manic depression all her life and my second wife has been in the same boat for the past five years. Sally Brampton's book is high on my recommended list. Written with honesty, clarity and humor, it certainly gives a most important insight in to what it must be like to be seriously depressed. There are many books on depression out there. This one gets is.