From Cells to Souls-And Beyond: Changing Portraits of Human Nature by Unknown

Author:Unknown
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2010-02-27T01:18:00+00:00

Malignant Sadness, Darkness Visible There have been many attempts to make the illness of depression more understandable in recent years. American novelist William Styron (perhaps best known for Sophie's Choice) wrote a piece for Vanity Fair that was reprinted in 1991 in book form as Darkness Visi- ble.18 He calls it a memoir of madness, but it is one of the clearest descriptions of the pain of depression. He describes his seven-week period of recovery after his eventual hospitalization and ends with the fact that he found serenity and joy, "and this may be indemnity enough for having endured the despair beyond despair."

A more scientific account has been written by Lewis Wolpert, Professor of Biology as Applied to Medicine in the University of London. From his own experience of a depressive illness he wrote a book and fronted a television series called Malignant Sadness: The Anatomy of Depression.19 From his own dreadful experiences of the illness and his careful reading and study he presents a clear account of depression and its effects on thinking, feeling, and the spiritual aspects of life.

One wishes that many pastors, priests, and others who care for their flock who may be suffering from depressive illness might read such books and absorb the basic knowledge in them so as to listen and advise properly. It is an unfortunate fact that people suffering with those symptoms and patterns of illness described by Wolpert or Styron are sometimes not perceived as ill at all. This may be because the spiritual adviser, minister, or priest does not have the necessary frame of reference to perceive the illnesses of some of those in his flock. Happily there are an increasing number of books written which do show some awareness of the fact that depression, with its genetic and biological basis, is something that affects the sufferer's spiritual life. To listen carefully to the symptoms might lead those who are seeking to help not only to pray, support, and sympathize, but also to advise about obtaining a diagnosis and treatment. Better links and closer cooperation between clergy and doctors, between lay carers and professionals, might save much suffering and prevent many suicides.

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