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 18
... mother's chaise lounge rests on bare dirt , next to the duck pen . She is sitting with the mother of one of my playmates , and they are sipping iced tea from tall frosted metal glasses , and I should be comfortable . But I'm not . I ...
... mother's chaise lounge rests on bare dirt , next to the duck pen . She is sitting with the mother of one of my playmates , and they are sipping iced tea from tall frosted metal glasses , and I should be comfortable . But I'm not . I ...
Page 24
... mother was told that he had died . She has only vague memories of her mother — a serious , deeply religious woman with auburn hair , who worked in the Nabisco factory in downtown Atlanta , making biscuit boxes . She died of influenza ...
... mother was told that he had died . She has only vague memories of her mother — a serious , deeply religious woman with auburn hair , who worked in the Nabisco factory in downtown Atlanta , making biscuit boxes . She died of influenza ...
Page 64
... mother and Amanda never met , but between them there arose an instant , deep enmity . My mother saw Amanda as a rival who would rob her of my love , and psychotherapy as a tool to destroy every religious impulse she had labored to ...
... mother and Amanda never met , but between them there arose an instant , deep enmity . My mother saw Amanda as a rival who would rob her of my love , and psychotherapy as a tool to destroy every religious impulse she had labored to ...
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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