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Title: Unholy Ghost: Writers on Depression by Nell Casey ISBN: 0-06-000782-6 Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 08 January, 2002 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $13.95

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Average Customer Rating: 4.17 (18 reviews)

Rating: 3
Summary: Coping with the unholy ghost
Comment: Unholy Ghost is a compilation of various writers detailing their personal struggles with depression. Some authors are well known, William Styron, Larry McMurtry, and A.Alvarez to name a few. Some see their depression as a catalyst for their creativity, some see it as a thief that threatens to rob them of theselves. Each writer details their recognition of being different, and the time lost. All who contribute to this book(there are a few companion essays by family members detailing the effect their loved-one's depression had on them)have sufferd from depression. Each writer has a very distinct voice when discussing their melencholia, some are scattered and frenetic, some detail the various pharmacological interventions, there are stories of suicide attempts and hospitalizations. The continuing thread is the loss of hope and orientation. Each writer describes the depression as a very real, physical and emotional being that threatenes to rob them of their lives and happiness. You do not have to be a writer or suffer from depression to appreciate the raw honesty of these pieces. The only problem I had was the constant theme of depression,(book on depression, too much depression, go figure)and the rawness of the tales.As a person who has suffered from chronic reoccuring depression the truth of these pieces resonated with me. These people really have hurt and it is like poking an open wound to read these stories.

Rating: 4
Summary: A great read whether you suffer from depression or not
Comment: I was thrilled with "Unholy Ghost". It takes up where Styron's "Darness Visible" left off (a book that is excerpted in the collection). The essays in this book deal with the effect of depression on both the afficted and those around them (with essays from both parties). Many are eloquently written, and offer hope for recovery, or at least a sense of survival (and even vitality and productiveness)despite the illness. I particularly enjoyed the Lauren Slater essay on her struggle between medication compliance and harming her unborn child from the possible side effects from her psychotropic meds. It is a "literary reference guide" to dealing with depression.

Rating: 5
Summary: A Welcome Anthology
Comment: If you are seeking a "Chicken Soup for the Depressed Soul" brimming with uplifting stories, this book is not the source.

Unholy Ghost reflects the ordeal of depression via the perspectives of those coping with it. The DSM-IV provides a skeletal structure for understanding the diagnosis. These essays add flesh to the framework. The reader is given an opportunity to intimately connect with each writer's experience of anguish. Some might criticize these essays as self-absorbed and declare the writers to be imperfect. Well, that's the point. This book is about personal involvement, revealing humans who try to genuinely articulate their journeys. Among many viewpoints, the reader will grapple with the issue of taking medication while pregnant, what it is like to be an African American woman who is depressed, how one person's "failed" suicide led to a reckoning with life, trying to understand the heritability of depression, and the general strange reality of living with this heavy companion.

This book does not contain answers. It is ponderous and sometimes disconsolate reading. What it does is invite the reader to walk alongside each writer and learn vicariously what depression can be. As a person who lives with major depression and dysthymia, I was fascinated by these voices and heartened by their company. As a psychotherapist, these essays will be a valuable tool for me in educating people about the dimensions of depression.