Mark Rice-Oxley

This is a memoir by a Guardian journalist describing his mental breakdown in 2009-10, how he felt and how he coped on a day to day basis, with the support of his wife, Sharon, and his parents and in laws. Many of his experiences chime with me, in particular the lethargy, inner emptiness and cycles of negative thinking depression causes, though it has very seldom caused me the sleeplessness from which he suffered. Mark was very lucky in having a very supportive family and an understanding show more boss, which helped to pull him through. The first part of the memoir detailing Mark's earlier life seemed a bit over long, though no doubt he felt a cathartic need to detail it as part of his personal quest to identify what caused his mental problems. Perhaps the best overall message to take from this is the need for acceptance, recognising you have the condition, probably for the long term, and learning how to manage it through various means, including being kind to oneself and not pushing oneself too hard. show less

I read the free sample on Google play store and absolutely loved the writing style. I had to buy the book...I am currently on chapter 7 and have to say I very much like his style of writing. Depression is such a sensitive and very difficult subject to tackle and without his personal insight and humour the book would be another book on depression, dry and boring to read...

I am sorry to say that when I read this book I became irritated by the author's voice. By the end, this was detracting from the message.