Customer Reviews

Malignant Sadness

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Lewis Wolpert is an outstanding developmental biologist who has made major contributions to understanding the basic biology of how embryos grow. He also suffered from a bout of clinical depression, which caused to him investigate what is known of depression and how professionals think of the disease. The result of his investigations is this short book which limns our historical understanding of the disease, as well as the current molecular and psychological theories about the origins of the disease and a review of current therapies. I found the book useful in that it reviews a huge mass of scientific studies and that Wolpert views most of it with an appropriately critical eye. In the end, Wolpert is frustrated by our poor understanding of this disease, but he points out that certain therapies do work for a percentage of depressed people. So, this is likely to be a useful book for those interested in a critical appraisal -- wonderfully well and clearly written -- of what we think we know about depression. Though Wolpert does give some suggestions about therapies based on his own experience, this is not a self-help book, but rather a serious investigation of depression.

In a time so significantly distinguished by mass dyspepsia and personal crisis, this book is a significant contribution to better public understanding. In a country so singularly obsessed with the simple-minded solution of feeling better through pharmaceutical support by way of Prozac, Zoloft and all the whole class of new central psycho-active and regulative brain drugs of that ilk, this book shines a bright and illuminating light into the morass of serious psychiatric darkness. Indeed, what is most striking and valuable about Wolpert's approach to this massively interesting and endlessly complex issue is the fact that he makes a great effort to explain and detail exactly where the current state of knowledge is about this often baffling and extremely debilitating affliction. Depression is so widespread and so commonplace that the public knows it by a variety of everyday names such as the blues, or being "off", or just as being down.

Few of us are unaffected by its massive effects, since either we ourselves or someone we know and love is so profoundly affected by its symptoms. He threads his way knowingly through a mountain of data and scientific literature, sifting out tidbits of knowledge from to help us understand just how Depression works its evil within us. His balancing act as both an observer and a sufferer from its effects make his perceptions especially acute and valuable, as his description of what the experience itself is like is a powerful demonstration of just how disabling depression can be. I must also admit that I found his views especially interesting since I admit to a long-standing personal bias against psychiatrists and mental health care professionals based on my own adolescent and adult experiences with depression, which left me suspicious of both physicians and psychiatric professionals who often seem all too ready for simple solutions such as simply medicating the symptoms away, refusing to deal with what one believes to be the underlying causes of the malady.

Certainly Wolpert mounts a wall of impressive research findings to support his own perceptions, and his combination of such data with his own experiences sounded a responsive chord in my own admittedly limited experiences. He does not disappoint the reader in the sense that while one expects him to over-emphasize biological causes and the subsequent recourse to pharmaceutical relief, yet Wolpert (to his considerable credit) also examines and evaluates both psychological and environmental factors their due. Thus, while admitting that the current theory that serotonin plays a major role in depression is given too much credence, he also admits that he believes that pharmaceutically altering brain chemistry may offer a major possibility for relief from depression in the future.

My only qualm concerning his approach or his intellectual stance is that he seems to underplay what many believe are overwhelming indications that social and cultural factors may significantly influence the onset of depression and also often exacerbate its symptoms. In this sense the book falls short of being truly comprehensive, for without due consideration of the ways in which such social factors contribute to and foster the development and extension of depression in its members, we can never truly understand the degree to which its development is a psychiatric, as opposed to philosophical, response by increasingly vulnerable and sensitive individuals to the manifest ills of a world gone absolutely bonkers. This is a book I highly recommend.

Thank you so much! The true, down to earth feelings that the author expressed when depressed and the feelings that coinsided were 100%! In this country as he talks about diseases such as Cancer are sympathised about, not Depression. It is thought of as a "weak person's disease, which family and friends try to keep quiet." It's not wrong to be depressed and certainly not wrong to share what you feel, and thank you for telling the world just that in your book! It was a comfort and an affirmation that there are successful people who are depressed, and can overcome it, only when they and the people around them are willing to accept it! Thank you again!

Lewis Wolpert is one of Britain's leading scientists. In particular, he is a world-class developmental biologist. His other great love and drive is to make science accessible to 'ordinary' people. This book was written to accompany a six-part TV series run on BBC TV - the first time that depression has been given so much air-time.

He brings his incisive mind to bear on the subject of depression, and describes how this truly devastating and dreadful illness slid his own legs from under him when he was stricken. He goes on to explore the symptoms and the various treatments. Interestingly, he does not cast aspersions on psychological treatments in favour of biological variants. In fact, he is astute enough to recognise that many of the 'softer' treatment modalities can affect brain chemistry through behavioural modification. Through his great desire to pass on much of what he uncovered, he distilled the information into this book which accompanied a six part TV series produced ny the BBC.

This is NOT a morbid book. It's aim is to enlighten the sufferer (and his carer) and perhaps point them in the direction of alternative options if their recovery isn't progressing well. It is also NOT a self-help book, in as far as Wolpert doesn't tell you how to treat yourself.

A great book and a great TV series.

This is brilliant. If I had the money, I'd buy this for about 100 people I know. I tell you this": Wolpert has really helped ME.

This book is for those who want the facts and options as related to major and bi-polar depression. It is not a "touchy-feely, sympathetic wallowing-in" of the subject, which is its appeal for me (in addition to its brevity and readability). It offers facts related to the possible mechanisms of depression and, more importantly, how these mechanisms can be changed. It is brief, but it is supplemented with plenty of citations. A good book if you don't quite have the time for "Noonday Demon" but would like to understand what depression is and, more importantly, the options for dealing with it.

As a chronic depressive, I try to read every book I can about the illness. This one ain't bad, but if you want the real goods about the illness read Jeffery Smith's Where the Roots Reach for Water. Like Wolpert, but better, Smith gives a history of the illness; he also writes moving and succinct portraits of famous & infamous people who suffered it, and he talks at length about the spiritual nature of the illness. And, Smith describes how it feels to be depressed, and his is the best written rendering of the illness I have ever seen. If you're considering this book, buy Where the Roots Reach for Water instead...

Wolpert writes lucidly and cogently from his own personal experience of the 'malignant sadness' that characterised his depressive illness. A past presenter of BBC programmes on various science topics aimed at a general audience, he writes eloquently in a jargon-free and thoroughly accessible language about his experience of a depressive illness. Although the central focus of this book is depression, it is not a depressing book; it is so well-written and thought-provoking that it engages the reader emotionally and intellectually. Wolpert's narrative is a profoundly moving subjective account of the affective symptomatic presentation of depression and its cost to him in the personal and professional consequences of his illness. Wolpert brings a scientist's objectivity and a keen intellect to this emotive subject. When he discusses diagnoses and treatment options, he is able to use the discourses of both patient and scientist. He distinguishes between the myths behind which society cloaks mental illness and the really traumatic consequences which marked his experience of mental illness, such as dis-empowerment, abandonment, loss of self-esteem. A remarkable book to be recommended for anyone with experience of mental illness, indeed for anyone with an interest in the human condition. Well-written, engaging, encouraging.

We know so much, and so little about the illness that affects millions in the United States. This is the conclusion, according to biologist Lewis Wolpert, who takes the reader down a formulaic analysis of depression, its history, and its status in different cultures. One could think of this book as a gathering of numerous reports on depression, with the author's personal experience and conclusions intertwined. Although it is somewhat a personal book, fueled by the author's own intimacy with clinical depression, Wolpert is empirical with his conclusions and encourages more scientific studies.

As someone who has suffered from moderate depression and mania, I was surprised to know that the illness had such a long history, dating back to ancient Greek times. I also enjoyed the short chapter on suicide and its relation to the mind. The most interesting concept though, was Wolpert's relation of depression to cancer. This is based on the premise that sadness, along with cell growth, does have an evolutionary place in the human body. The problem occurs when such mechanisms start malfunctioning. Therefore, sadness is to depression, as cell growth is to cancer.

The book did have some overly complicated language for this layperson, but I still got through it in a week. To me, it was very informative, and the reference section in the back gave me other sources to read. I would recommend it to any person who has suffered from depression, knows someone who has, or is interested in the subject matter.

Wolpert brings together the best of current research (as of 1998) combined with his candid portrayal of his own battle with the demon of depression. He also includes historical and cultural studies. The combination provides readers with a well-written, well-researched, easy-to-understand, and hard-to-put down volume on depression--it's causes, care and cure.

Reviewer: Bob Kellemen, Ph.D., is the author of "Beyond the Suffering: Embracing the Legacy of African American Soul Care and Spiritual Direction," "Soul Physicians," "Spiritual Friends," and the forthcoming "Sacred Friendships: Listening to the Voices of Women Soul Care-Givers and Spiritual Directors."