Darkness Visible: A Memoir of Madness (1990)

Honest, candid account of the author's devastating bouts of intense depression. ( )

Like many others, I would assume, I read this during a bout of severe depression. Whatever soothing effect it had while reading it came from a persistent feeling that the texture of Styron's despair was almost wholly alien to my own, a rare experience for me in reading books on the subject. A week or so later, I realized that one aspect matched my own very closely: the feeling that he was two people, one of which was perfectly content to stand back and watch the other flail helplessly then collapse. Not totally unfamiliar, after all. ( )

Portrait into mind of clinical depression. Short, but very descriptive and poignant. ( )

Depression has been an ever-present ghost over my shoulder. I found this book fascinating because it actually chronicled my reality. Darkness Visible is a look at one person's experience, and the value of the book is in its description of one person's state of depression. Yes, depression is different for others. Yes, it is hard to comprehend if you have never had a personal experience with it. It is a good memoir. Period.

For a more thorough look at depression I recommend "The Noonday Demon" by Andrew Solomon. Far more comprehensive and objective. ( )

This book does reflect exactly the feeling of severe depression, there is no doubt about that. Reviews which did not connect with it overwhelmingly have come from people who confess that they themselves have not known depression. This is the closest I have got to reading a book that reflects how I have felt with my struggle with depression. I have read a few. I did not find this book to be full of self pity but realism about the actual disorder. One for people who have experienced it really - as Styron says , people outside the disorder will never be able to understand it, and it therefore follows that they will never fully be able to connect with this book. ( )