So good, so vitally important, but so . . . depressing.
A reader’s guide to depression, hopelessly bleak yet heartbreakingly real.
In this massive tome, Solomon (A Stone Boat, 1994, etc.) confronts the terrors of depression with a breadth both panoramic and precise. The 12 tersely titled chapters (“Depression,” “Breakdowns,” “Treatments,” “Alternatives,” “Populations,” “Addiction,” “Suicide,” “History,” “Poverty,” “Politics,” “Evolution,” and “Hope”) address with spectacular clarity the ways in which depression steals lives away, leaving its prey bereft of their very selves. Despite the occasional cliché (“Life is fraught with sorrows”) and heavy metaphor (“Grief is a humble angel”), Solomon’s prose illuminates a dark topic through the unfolding tales of his sources and his own life story; by allowing the voices of those who battle depression to speak, rich and varied pictures of daily struggle, defeat, and triumph ultimately emerge. The author deserves kudos as well both for the geographical span of his account (which ranges from Senegal to Greenland) and for its historical sweep (which begins with Hippocrates and continues to the present). Paradoxically, the completeness of Solomon’s vision undermines his readability: so much suffering fills these pages that, at times, it’s all a bit too much darkness. (The gruesome litany of suicide techniques, for example, seems gratuitous.) Nevertheless, the importance of the work becomes virtually self-evident when Solomon addresses such topics as the cultural denial of depression, masculine fears of seeking treatment, strengths and weaknesses of various treatments, the salutary effect of diet and exercise on depression, the high cost of treatment, and chronic depression among the elderly. Fortunately the final chapter is “Hope”—for the reader will certainly be in need of some after the marathon of gloom.
So good, so vitally important, but so . . . depressing.Pub Date: June 12, 2001
ISBN: 0-684-85466-X
Page Count: 480
Publisher: Scribner
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2001
A spirited account of how hormones influence gender differences and sexual behaviors, along with advice on how to take control of these potent biochemical forces. A physician and sex therapist trained at the Masters and Johnson Institute, Crenshaw (Bedside Manners, 1983, etc.) is one teacher who knows how to make her chemistry lessons painless. She introduces the major players in colorful language: Estrogen is Marilyn Monroe, testosterone is the young Marlon Brando, serotonin is the resident schizophrenic. After a brief look at the sexual stages in the lives of men and women, she examines the role of hormones and other chemicals in shaping romantic feelings and actions. Many chapters open with an attention-grabbing sexual scenario, and numerous other explicit passages are interspersed throughout the text. A dozen or so sex-shaping substances are profiled, with charts providing a summary of each one's characteristics, functions, therapeutic uses, and the factors that raise or lower its level in the body. One of Crenshaw's key messages is that, thanks to the variations in the mix of this chemical brew coursing through their bloodstreams, men and women are different—biologically, sexually, and emotionally. Her other message is that, as human beings, we need not be the slaves of our chemistry. A sizable portion of the book is devoted to menopause and its male version, viropause, which she views as endocrine disorders to be treated by hormone replacement therapy whenever possible. Ever optimistic, Crenshaw concludes with some speculations based on current hormone research with animals. If she's right, there's a brave new world ahead, of longevity and sexual fitness for those who mind their chemistry lessons. Uninhibited, upbeat, and opinionated. (First serial to Cosmopolitan and Fitness; Book-of-the-Month Club alternate selection; author tour)
Pub Date: March 19, 1996
ISBN: 0-399-14041-7
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 1996
A short course in Jungian psychology aimed at the Baby Boomer, wherein Jung's basic tenets are embellished with Sufi thought, familiar Buddhist parables, and reflections from Teilhard de Chardin. There are also numerous references from Marion Woodman, a popular and astute Jungian interpreter; Clarissa Pinkola EstÇs (Women Who Run with the Wolves); Betty Edwards (Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain), as well as Emily Dickinson, Carlos Castaneda, and Gail Sheehy. If that suggests a pop psychological stew—the Wal-Mart of human potential—no apologies need be made. Brehony, a Jungian psychologist, defines, explains, and connects Jungian concepts such as personal and collective unconscious, persona, shadow, and archetypes into an understandable but not reductive framework. At midlife, she explains, the persona (our public presentation) encounters the shadow, the parts of our selves that have been buried. The ``tension of opposites'' can reach critical mass, but the need to let go of one person to become another is terrifying, precipitating a descent into the caverns of the unconscious. The book continues with chapters offering both analysis and exercise: how midlife involves turning the caterpillar of desire into the butterfly of achievement, how relationships (mother/son, husband/wife) are containers for soft landings in crises. Later chapters, including ``Dreams and Dreamwork'' and ``Creativity,'' are devised with exercises to strengthen various aspects of development, including the importance of dreams, creativity, prayer and meditation, and the physical body. The usefulness of community and neighbors as helpful containers for movement is emphasized. In other chapters are discussions of prayer and meditation, ``mindfulness,'' and creativity, with exercises that include advice as simplistic as ``Listen to each other'' and as curious as ``Don't fight about anything that could blow away in a hurricane.'' A relatively challenging exploration of the aspects of change at midlife, including spiritual and physical growth.
Pub Date: Sept. 24, 1996
ISBN: 1-57322-024-8
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Riverhead
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1996
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