The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of DepressionWinner of the National Book Award and a Pulitzer Prize finalist, The Noonday Demon examines depression in personal, cultural, and scientific terms. Drawing on his own struggles with the illness and interviews with fellow sufferers, doctors and scientists, policy makers and politicians, drug designers and philosophers, Andrew Solomon reveals the subtle complexities and sheer agony of the disease. He confronts the challenge of defining the illness and describes the vast range of available medications, the efficacy of alternative treatments, and the impact the malady has on various demographic populations -- around the world and throughout history. He also explores the thorny patch of moral and ethical questions posed by emerging biological explanations for mental illness. With uncommon humanity, candor, wit, and erudition, award-winning author Solomon takes readers on a journey of incom-parable range and resonance into the most pervasive of family secrets. His contribution to our understanding not only of mental illness but also of the human condition is truly stunning. |
From inside the book
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Page 111
... levels of brain metabolism while , in mirror image , pharmaceutical therapies lower levels of anxiety . This is the principle of antidepressant medication , which by modifying the levels of certain substances in the brain changes the ...
... levels of brain metabolism while , in mirror image , pharmaceutical therapies lower levels of anxiety . This is the principle of antidepressant medication , which by modifying the levels of certain substances in the brain changes the ...
Page 253
... levels of serotonin at certain key loca- tions in the brain . They have excessive numbers of serotonin receptors , which may reflect the brain's attempt to make up for the low levels of serotonin . The level of serotonin seems to be ...
... levels of serotonin at certain key loca- tions in the brain . They have excessive numbers of serotonin receptors , which may reflect the brain's attempt to make up for the low levels of serotonin . The level of serotonin seems to be ...
Page 254
... levels of serotonin , and the gene that sets levels of the enzyme tryptophan hydroxylase is now clearly associated with high rates of suicide . Genes not only for mental disease but also for impulsivity , aggression , and violence may ...
... levels of serotonin , and the gene that sets levels of the enzyme tryptophan hydroxylase is now clearly associated with high rates of suicide . Genes not only for mental disease but also for impulsivity , aggression , and violence may ...
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addiction Adolescent Affective Disorders alcohol American Journal antidepressants anxiety Archives asked become began behavior believe biological Biological Psychiatry Bipolar Disorder brain breakdown cause child Clinical cocaine cognitive cortisol death depres developed disease doctor dopamine drugs EMDR emotional episodes experience feel felt friends function happy Hippocrates hospital human idea John Journal of Psychiatry kill knew levels lives major depression medication Medicine Melancholia melancholy mental health mental illness mind months mood mother neurotransmitters never night norepinephrine pain patients percent person physical pills postpartum depression Press problem Prozac Psychological Psychopharmacology psychotherapy quotation receptors says seemed serotonin sexual side effects sion sleep social someone SSRIs story stress Substance Abuse suffering suicide suicide attempts symptoms talk therapist therapy things thought tion told Trans treat treatment women write wrote Xanax York Zyprexa