Unholy Ghost: Writers on Depression Book

I was so disappointed in this book. I constantly read essays, memoirs, fiction, and academic work on psychological issues and this seemed like a good addition to the pile. However, most of the essays were incredibly boring and had nothing to do with the experience of being depressed, except that they were solipsistic and uninteresting. One or two essays along the lines of "I'm a writer and depression has related to my writing in these ways" would have been nice, but at least 75 percent of the essays in this book talked about writing (Beattie's essay is especially impressive because it talks about writing and doesn't even mention depression!). To make things worse, most of these essays about writing and depression were simply bad. Rambling about how various antidepressants change the word choice in your poetry? And your husband develops depression to, I don't know, see what it's like? Lack of diversity was also a huge issue, as Meri Nana-Ama Danquah shows in her excellent essay on depression and race. Almost every essay is by a white, educated writer living in New England or a major city, which results in an anthology that basically says the same thing over and over. So much for getting different perspectives. Similarly, few of the writers talked about very severe depression - repeated suicide attempts, hospitalizations, comorbid mental illness or substance abuse - again excluding a lot of experiences and unfortunately continuing the misconception that depression is for bored, privileged people, and its consequences are that they cannot read Virginia Woolf. Painful, but not life-threatening.

I gave this volume two stars because there were a few essays that I genuinely enjoyed and would recommend. "Poodle Bed" is funny and manages to communicate the experience of depression in just a few pages. Danquah's essay, mentioned above, really challenged some of the dominant discourse of depression and is totally unique in the book. Although I was being flippant about Larry McMurtry's inability to read the great authors during his depression, he actually describes his experience in a moving way and gives a different perspective as someone whose depression was brought on by heart surgery. I enjoyed the British professor's story and a few others as well. Overall, this is a weak collection and I would recommend you skim it until you find the essays that are worthwhile.