Sally Brampton (1955–2016)

This memoir of the bleakest form of severe depression was a tough read in places, and the author sometimes came across rather unsympathetically, but this reflects the brutal and uncompromising reality that she experienced over a period of a few years, that caused a very successful magazine editor to become incapable of reading, writing, or even living rather than existing. My own depression has, mercifully, never been this severe, but I recognised the traits of hopelessness and emotional show more numbness. A difficult but important read. show less

This is a tough read, particularly if you have depression yourself, so raw and exposed that I often had to take it in little chunks, but it is extremely inspiring. I honestly couldn't believe that Brampton survived her severe depression, but seeing her come out the other side--and hearing all the things that worked (and didn't work) for her--are invaluable for anyone who is going through something similar.

An excellent memoir.

This review is from: Shoot the Damn Dog: A Memoir of Depression (Paperback)
I was really impressed with this book. It was brutally honest about the desperate condition known as depression, yet it also gave hope for sufferers and practical tips to direct those who can see no way out. Written from first hand experience by a sufferer who does not respond to anti-depression medcation (30% of all depressives), and who reached the depths of despair that were hard to read about, show more let alone live through, it still managed an upbeat note towards the end.

Sally Brampton was a driven, highly motivated woman. She was editor of two well known magazines, Elle and Red, and a journalist for many major newspapapers. Then her marriage collapsed and her ability to cope seemed to crumble. Soon after that she was sacked from Red and sank into major depression. This was not an inability to be cheerful and see the bright side of life, this was a total, devastating inability to function on any level - a highly literate woman found herself unable even to read. Only her young daughter, Molly, kept her alive, though she did make a couple of attempts at suicide.

It took several years and a bout of alcoholism, before Sally managed to drag herself back into the land of the living. But the important fact is that she did. And having done so, she wrote this excellent memoir to help other sufferers see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Not everything will work for everyone, but the author gained great benefit from group therapy, private therapy (with an empathetic therapist), yoga and meditation.

My copy is littered with stick-it notes marking the parts I found inspiring and I am hoping that the depressive close to me can be persuaded to read this and benefit from it. show less

Excellent memoir that explains how a clinically depressed person feels, see the world, deal with the surroundings and trying everything to get better. Reading this, I felt that I am not a hopeless case because there are some people out there who are sharing this sufferings. It makes me understand what I am going through, accept what I am suffering from and slowly, patiently find my own path to get better.