Speaking of Sadness: Depression, Disconnection, and the Meanings of Illness

Author: Karp, David A.Brand: OUP USAEdition: Revised ed.Binding: PaperbackNumber Of Pages: 256Release Date: 24-04-1997Part Number: bibliographyDetails: "Even though depression has periodically made me feel that my life was not worth living, has created havoc in my family, and sometimes made the work of teaching and writing seem impossible," writes David Karp, "by some standards, I have been fortunate." Indeed, depression can be devastating, leading to family breakups, loss of employment, even suicide. And it is a national problem, with some ten to fifteen million Americans suffering from it, and the number is growing. In Speaking of Sadness, Karp captures the human face of this widespread affliction, as he illuminates his experience and that of others in a candid, searching work. Combining a scholar's care and thoroughness with searing personal insight, Karp brings the private experience of depression into sharp relief, drawing on a remarkable series of intimate interviews with fifty d