"Blends popular science, narrative history, and memoir."
After years of experiencing depression himself – during which was prescribed anti-depressants and underwent therapy – award-winning science writer Alex Riley began to question the effectiveness of the available treatments for what has become “one of the world’s most prevalent disorders”. In A Cure for Darkness, Riley tells his own story before delving into centuries of science and treatments, illuminating past and present methods, as well as new hopes, for the future of mental health. It's a fascinating look at the treatment of depression that blends popular science, narrative history, and memoir.
'Boldly ambitious, deeply affecting, and magisterial in scope' Steve Silberman, author of Neurotribes'Expansive and thoughtful, it illuminates the complexity and elusiveness of his subject' New Statesman'A rich and generous picture of research into depression to date' Financial TimesWhat is depression? Is it a persistent low mood or a complex range of symptoms? Is it a single diagnosis or a range of mental disorders requiring different treatments? And is there a way of curing such a complex, and diverse, condition? A sufferer of depression himself, science writer Alex Riley has spent years thinking about these issues as he was prescribed antidepressants and underwent cognitive behavioural therapy. Throughout his treatment, he wondered-are antidepressants effective? Do short-term talking therapies actually work? And what is on the horizon for those who don't respond to these first-line treatments? A Cure for Darkness explores all of these questions and more, as the author embarks on a journey to illuminate one of the world's most prevalent disorders. Weaving personal and family history, the book tracks treatments through centuries of science, from the 'talking cure' to electroconvulsive therapy to magic mushrooms. Reporting on the field of global mental health from its colonial past to the present day, Riley discovers new and exciting therapies, including how a group of grandmothers stands on the frontline of a mental health revolution. A gripping narrative journey, A Cure for Darkness delves deep into the science of mental health and finds hope at the new frontiers of treatment.
| Primary Genre | Popular Science |
| Other Genres: |
'Boldly ambitious, deeply affecting, and magisterial in scope' Steve Silberman, author of Neurotribes'Expansive and thoughtful, it illuminates the complexity and elusiveness of his subject' New Statesman'A rich and generous picture of research into depression to date' Financial TimesWhat is depression? Is it a persistent low mood or a complex range of symptoms?
A Cure for Darkness features in the following genres: Popular Science, Popular psychology, Coping with / advice about depression and other mood disorders, Science: general issues, Mathematics and Science, Self Help and Personal Development, Health & Fitness, Coping with / advice about mental health issues, Coping with / advice about personal, social and health topics, Family and health
Paperback, Hardback. Not Available.
A Cure for Darkness was written by Alex Riley and published by Ebury Press an imprint of Ebury Publishing
A Cure for Darkness has 464 pages
