The Beast: A Reckoning with Depression"Tracy Thompson was a well-regarded reporter for The Washington Post when, in 1989, she found herself in the terrifying, suicidal free-fall of a major depressive episode, the return of a Beast that had haunted her since her childhood in the traditionalist South." "She survived - but unlike countless writers before her, Thompson did not survive to write a book about "madness" or about twentieth-century victimization. Instead, like a good reporter, she kept notes and asked questions. The result is a lyrical yet dispassionate account of a lifelong battle to survive a mental illness. It chronicles her struggle to reclaim her career, her growing intellectual interest in depression, and her sobering realization of the toll her illness took on the people who loved her."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved |
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Page 57
... fear of being faced with an impossible task ( that of appearing normal and happy and making good grades so no one will worry ) and fear of never finding a place to be alone . . . I carry a lead weight in my stomach and it hurts . . . I ...
... fear of being faced with an impossible task ( that of appearing normal and happy and making good grades so no one will worry ) and fear of never finding a place to be alone . . . I carry a lead weight in my stomach and it hurts . . . I ...
Page 63
... fear and relief : fear that there was something wrong with my brain , relief at realizing that someone had finally noticed . Given my level of anxiety and the trou- ble I was having concentrating in school , Amanda said , I might be ...
... fear and relief : fear that there was something wrong with my brain , relief at realizing that someone had finally noticed . Given my level of anxiety and the trou- ble I was having concentrating in school , Amanda said , I might be ...
Page 67
... fear and trembling , " Saint Paul admonished the Christians at Philippi in the first century . Therapy was like that , a form of personal salvation which had to be painfully earned over time . If it didn't hurt , it wasn't working ...
... fear and trembling , " Saint Paul admonished the Christians at Philippi in the first century . Therapy was like that , a form of personal salvation which had to be painfully earned over time . If it didn't hurt , it wasn't working ...
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alcohol Amanda antidepressants anxiety asked Atlanta Beast began brain called clinical depression cognitive therapy defective depression desk doctor door dream drugs editor Eleanor Elsa Walsh emotional eyes face fact father fear feel felt friends gallbladder going group therapy happened hear heard hospital Hugo idea imipramine kids kind knew Kovach later Linda John Linda Johnson lithium living looked Loretta marriage Melissa mental illness mind mood disorders morning mother neurotransmitters never newsroom night okay once pain person Peter pills problem Prozac psychiatrist psychotherapy realized remember schizophrenia seemed sense serotonin sick sion sister sitting sleep somehow someone started story suicide watch talk tell therapy thing Thomas Thomas's thought told took tried trying walked wanted Washington Washington Post watching weekend weeks woman words wrong wrote