One of the most important books about the disease of depression. Here, the talk is not about the disease itself in a scientific way as much as it is a true account of the personal experience that William Styron went through and overcame after a long struggle with depression. This is what distinguishes it and makes me certain that it will change many people's views of depression as it did for me. In my opinion, the combination of the human experience and sharing it is more important than any theoretical science.

This book provides a unique perspective on depression, offering insights that can only come from someone who has lived through it. Styron's honest and detailed account allows readers to empathize with his struggle and gain a deeper understanding of the challenges faced by those with depression.

It serves as a reminder that depression is not just a medical condition but a deeply personal and emotional experience. By sharing his story, Styron has the power to break down the stigma surrounding depression and encourage others to seek help and support.

Overall, this book is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand the true nature of depression and the impact it can have on a person's life.

In Darkness Visible: A Memoir of Madness, William Styron makes a valiant attempt to describe the indescribable.

To truly understand its importance and significance, one must read this work. It is, without a doubt, a must-read for everyone.

Styron points out that depression, formerly known as "melancholia," has a long history in the English language. Appearing as early as 1303 and mentioned more than once by Chaucer, "melancholia" seems to capture the pathological nuances of the disorder better.

However, it has been replaced by a more bland and unassuming noun that is used to describe everything from an economic decline to a rut in the ground.

Depression affects millions directly and even more indirectly through their relatives and friends. It is estimated that one in ten Americans will experience this illness.

Like a Norman Rockwell poster, it is democratic in its reach, striking people of all ages, races, creeds, and classes. Women are at a higher risk than men, but few people are immune to being a potential victim, at least in its milder form.

The book, which was not so much an article, contained some interesting information about sadness.

Sadness is a complex emotion that can have various causes and manifestations. It may stem from personal losses, disappointments, or difficult life situations.

The book delved into the different aspects of sadness, exploring its psychological, emotional, and physical impacts.

It also discussed various ways to cope with sadness, such as seeking support from others, engaging in self-care activities, and finding meaning and purpose in difficult experiences.

By understanding more about sadness, we can better manage our emotions and improve our overall well-being.

The information presented in the book offered valuable insights and practical advice for those dealing with sadness in their lives.

Whether it is through self-reflection, therapy, or simply reaching out to others, there are always ways to find hope and healing in the face of sadness.

I really liked the book. It was a precious collection of sincere and honest feelings that are difficult to express in words.

For those who have lived in the dark forest of sadness and know the unjustifiable torment of it, their return from the bottomless abyss is like the poet's ascent, emerging from the depths of the dark hell and appearing in the world that he named "the bright world".

Now, Ali is in a state of having nothing, and that is sadness.

The book seems to be a mirror reflecting the complex emotions and experiences of people. It allows us to step into the shoes of those who have endured hardships and understand their pain and longing. Through the author's words, we can feel the depth of their emotions and the struggle they have gone through.

It also makes us realize that sadness is an inevitable part of life. Everyone will experience it at some point. However, it is how we deal with sadness that determines our ability to move forward and find hope. Maybe, like the characters in the book, we need to find our own way to emerge from the darkness and embrace the light.

In conclusion, this book is not just a story, but a profound exploration of the human heart and the meaning of life. It has the power to touch our souls and make us think about our own lives.

Anlatım olsun içerik olsun her satırı ayrı bir dikkat ve ilgiyle okunacak bir eser. This work is such that every line should be read with distinct attention and interest, whether it's the narrative or the content.

Kitapla ilgili blogda daha uzun bir anlatım olacak. There will be a more extensive narration in the blog related to the book.

Depresyon da olanların okuması belki iyi olmayabilir amma yazarın başka eserini de okumuş olanlar bilir mutlaka burda karamsarlık değil siyahı beyazla birleştirmek gibi bir durum. Reading it might not be good for those with depression, but those who have read the author's other works know that there is definitely a situation here like combining black and white rather than just darkness.

https://edebiyatdanostalji.blogspot.com/2023/01/karanlgn-solgun-beyaz-imgesel-dunyasnda.html This is the link to the relevant blog post where you can find more in-depth discussion about this interesting work.

Yudrrs! This simple word holds within it a world of possibilities. It could be a call to study, to explore, to learn. When we hear "Yudrrs!" it is as if a door is opening to a realm of knowledge and understanding. We are encouraged to engage with new ideas, to question, to seek answers. It is a reminder that learning is a continuous journey, one that enriches our lives and broadens our perspectives. Whether it is in the classroom, through reading, or by experiencing new things, "Yudrrs!" urges us to embrace the opportunity to grow and develop. So, let us respond to this call and embark on a path of discovery, eager to learn and expand our horizons.

Many years ago, I had the opportunity to read two extremely powerful novels. One of them was a captivating story that presented an impossible moral dilemma, titled Sophie's Choice. The other was a controversial fictionalized account of a real-life slave revolt that took place in Virginia in 1831, led by a slave and a fiery preacher, called The Confessions of Nat Turner. These novels made me a huge fan of their author, William Styron.

Later, when I found out that he had also written an account of his own struggle with severe depression, I knew without a doubt that I wanted to read it.

William Styron's memoir of depression, Darkness Visible: A Memoir of Madness, initially started as an article he penned for the December 1989 issue of 'Vanity Fair'. In this memoir, Mr. Styron began his personal story by recounting a trip he took to Paris to receive an award for his literary contributions. This trip turned out to be of utmost importance to him as it was the first time he truly recognized and admitted to himself the extent of his struggle with 'depressive illness'.

Mr. Styron was very in tune with his body and moods, and had been working hard to arrange his life around his mood disturbances. He was well aware that his trip to Paris would pose a problem. He had been experiencing sleep disturbances and changes in his body's circadian rhythms, and found that he could only function normally between dinnertime and midnight. He wrote, "The pain lifted a little and my mind would become lucid enough to focus on matters beyond the immediate upheaval."

Despite feeling increasingly distressed and anxious in anticipation of his Paris excursion, when the time finally came, he managed to get through it, albeit with a tremendous amount of difficulty. Finally realizing that he could no longer 'white knuckle' his way through social and professional engagements, he sought the help of a psychotherapist he referred to as Dr. Gold.

While reading William Styron's relatively short missive, two things really struck me. Firstly, I was amazed and deeply impressed by Mr. Styron's ability to eloquently describe how depression felt to him. He was able to do so with perfect self-awareness, as if "watching himself as a kind of second self." There was a certain beauty in the honesty of the words he chose to describe the pain he endured when in the grip of depression, yet there was also an ever-present detachment in those words. He wrote, "What I had begun to discover is that the gray drizzle of horror induced by depression takes on the quality of physical pain. But it is not an immediately identifiable pain, like that of a broken limb. It may be more accurate to say that despair comes to resemble the diabolical discomfort of being imprisoned in a fiercely overheated room. And because no breeze stirs this caldron, because there is no escape from this smothering confinement, its entirely natural that the victim begins to think ceaselessly of oblivion."

The other aspect of William Styron's account of his illness that left a lasting impression on me was the sheer amount of energy he expended daily just to function in a minimally 'normal' manner. It reminded me of the many people I have heard over the years express the opinion that those suffering from depression or other mental illnesses are simply weak-minded or lack will power, preferring instead to wallow in their own misery. In reality, the opposite is true. Although Mr. Styron wrote of being seized by crippling anxiety and periods of an inability to concentrate, he spent his days forcing himself to engage in the work and social activities he had always been involved in, demonstrating to me that depression (and mental illness in general) is definitely NOT for the faint of heart!

Over the years, I have read other personal accounts of depression that might perhaps be considered more detailed and compelling than the one written by William Styron. However, when I stop to think that he wrote his account in 1989, I can't help but admire and feel grateful for his courage. He managed to gather his inner strength and write about his battle with mental illness at a time when few people discussed such topics, perhaps only in private rooms with hushed voices. I believe that the general public has gradually become more knowledgeable and accepting of mental illness as a legitimate disease, and many people no longer view it as a character flaw but rather as an illness of the brain, every bit as serious and real as diseases affecting other organs of the body. I firmly believe that William Styron made a significant contribution to this social change.

It very well explained sadness and showed quite well that perhaps sadness can be with us for years and years without us even being aware of it.

This is a profound observation. Sadness can often lurk beneath the surface of our daily lives, hidden from our immediate perception. We may go about our routines, seemingly fine, but deep down, there could be a well of sadness that has been building up over time.

Understanding this can help us to be more in tune with our emotions. It提醒 us that it's important to take the time to check in with ourselves, to notice the signs of sadness that may be present. By doing so, we can begin to address it, rather than allowing it to fester and grow.

Perhaps we need to reach out for support, talk to a friend or a professional, or engage in activities that bring us joy and a sense of fulfillment. In this way, we can start to heal the wounds of sadness and move forward with a more positive and hopeful outlook.

The author's experience with epilepsy is truly remarkable. Epilepsy, which some might inaccurately label as madness, is a condition that, when examined closely, cannot be simply dismissed as such. Despite the varying degrees of severity among those affected by epilepsy, all sufferers, without exception, share a common feeling of being trapped under the weight of emotional pain.

What caught my attention in these accounts is that the treating doctor was quick to prescribe medication without considering the side effects or drug interactions. This oversight led to a deterioration in the author's mental and physical state. The side effects and drug-drug interactions can have a significant impact on a patient's well-being.

Moreover, the doctor did not turn to psychological or cognitive-behavioral therapies as an attempt to manage the condition until it was too late. In the end, all I can do is express my admiration for the author's will, which has shone a powerful light in the midst of that visible darkness.

The theme of writing has continuously run through the pages of literature and the canvases of art like an eternal thread of torment. Starting from the handling of Hamlet to the words of "Emily Dickinson" and "Gerard Manley Hopkins", and from "John Donne" to "Nathaniel Hawthorne", "Dostoevsky", "Alan Poe", "Camus", "Conrad", and "Virginia Woolf".

Many of Albrecht Dürer's engravings contain disturbing images that reflect the state of "melancholy" that he endured. Also, van Gogh's "The Starry Night" represents an asylum for the artist's descent into madness and suicide.

This is the suffering that often shows its influence in the music of "Beethoven", "Schumann", and "Mozart", and runs through the darkest passages of "Bach".

But the greatest symbolic image that depicts this incomprehensible woe is perhaps the most accurate portrayal, and it dates back to the Italian poet "Dante". His verses, which have become on everyone's lips, still amaze the imagination through their revelation of the unknown and the fearsome struggle:

In the middle of the journey of our life
I found myself in a dark wood
When I had lost the right path.

A wonderful, yet harrowing portrait emerges in Styron's account of his descent into a profound depression that blindsided him at the age of 60. Styron had achieved great success in his career as a novelist and essayist. However, a combination of events plunged him into a melancholy from which he could not extricate himself. When this book was first published in 1990, I deliberately avoided it. I was dealing with a crisis of my own at that time, and I felt that experiencing Styron's ordeal along with him might not be beneficial for my mental state. Although my experience was not nearly as severe as his, I do have a deep sense of empathy for his difficult situation. The intense and unrelenting feelings of hopelessness, as well as the self-perpetuating downward spiral, all feel eerily familiar. In the intervening years, even though I have long since managed to escape the quagmire I was in back then, I simply never got around to picking up this book.

I am glad for Styron that he was able to spend the remainder of his years in a greater state of peace and inner harmony than he describes in this book. He is a courageous individual for sharing his suffering with the world through his writing, and we are all the better for it.

I am aware that I may face criticism from the loyal fans of this book and Styron's writing style. However, I feel a certain responsibility to state that this book might be a bit overly written, perhaps even flowery. With more judicious editing, the ratio of adjectives to nouns could potentially be reduced by a factor of two or so. There, I have said it. I have no intention of elaborating further and diluting my genuine admiration for this book and its significant contribution in the field of mental health.

Everyone should give this book a read, if only to gain a better understanding of those in their lives who may currently be struggling with depression. Styron's message is one of hope, and we can all play a role in saving the life and sanity of someone we love.

For those who have lived in the dark forest of depression and known

the hardships that are difficult for them to explain, their emergence from the abyss is like

the poet climbing the path of ascent from the lowest hell,

for every one who recovers his health. «The world of light» until he finally reaches what he considers

There is often the ability to regain joy and tranquility, and perhaps that is

a better compensation for the probability of that despair that follows with more despair.

«And thus we went out, and once again we saw the stars.»

This passage vividly describes the arduous journey of those who have suffered from depression. They have endured great pain and confusion in the darkness. But as they gradually recover, they begin to see a glimmer of hope and light. The mention of "the world of light" implies that they are moving towards a better state of being. The ability to regain joy and tranquility is a precious gift that compensates for the previous despair. And finally, the image of seeing the stars again represents a sense of renewal and hope, as if they have emerged from the darkness and are ready to embrace a new life.