A courageous and innovative experience in writing.

It is simple and beautiful despite the weight of the subject.✨✨

This unique writing experience allows one to break free from the constraints and explore new horizons. It requires courage to step out of the comfort zone and try something different.

The simplicity of the writing belies its beauty. It cuts through the clutter and gets straight to the heart of the matter. With just a few words, it can convey a powerful message.

Despite the weight of the subject, the writer manages to handle it with grace and elegance. The writing flows smoothly, drawing the reader in and keeping them engaged until the very end.

Overall, this is a remarkable piece of writing that showcases the power of creativity and courage. It serves as an inspiration for others to take risks and explore their own writing potential.

Sadness is a mental disorder, and its pain is so mysterious and difficult to understand - for the average mind - that it is indescribable. Therefore, for those who, despite their intense inner grief, have not shown it, there is always incomprehension remaining. The "sadness" that people sometimes fall into and is associated with daily problems is so common that in its tragic form, it leads to the symptoms of illness.

I read this book for the second time. It is a concise and spiritual book written by the author based on his own experience of sadness. He wrote about his experiences during this period and briefly mentioned some writers who committed suicide and examined the possible reasons for it. William Styron believes that we cannot judge someone who commits suicide because the pain of sadness is not understandable to everyone; this indicates a lack of public awareness. I recommend this book.

This book offers valuable insights into the complex nature of sadness and suicide. It makes us think about how we perceive and deal with these issues in our society. By sharing personal experiences and analyzing the possible causes, the author helps us to better understand the depth of pain that some people may be going through.

Overall, this book is a thought-provoking and moving read that can have a profound impact on our understanding of mental health and human emotions. It is a must-read for anyone who wants to gain a deeper understanding of the human condition.

The result of disrupted sleep and bouts of restlessness and anxiety during sleep itself, it is common for one to resort to reading. And due to its small size, I read "Darkness Visible" by William Styron. Honestly, it was an excellent book, simple and straightforward. The man speaks in it with a remarkable literary sense, drawing on his culture and literary knowledge, and he fell into the grip of that可恶disease called depression.

The book is a detailed analysis of a personal condition that the author himself suffered from, presented during a period of recovery, as if it were a confessional document written for all generations.

The book was translated by Anwar al-Shami, and it was a beautiful and accurate translation that made the process of understanding very easy.

It is recommended for those who are sad on cold nights to benefit from it, and for the happy ones to know the suffering of others.

This very small volume was not an easy read.

Mr. Styron eases us into his own story by relating stories of other writers and artists who experienced deep depression. Some made it through but most did not. His stories are liberally laced with a depth of understanding that he acknowledged could only come to those who have experienced it.

We are not talking about a few days or even depression over a week or two, but rather months where the elevator keeps going down no matter how many times one thumps the Up button.

The rawness of Mr. Styron’s descent into deep depression is what made it difficult to read. As he said, the wide variety of symptoms and idiosyncrasies of depression continue to make it difficult to treat. There is no simple ‘cure’ and no ‘one remedy suits all’ like there are for other diseases and illnesses.

The relentless descriptions of the reality he was being bombarded with every day for months were an education that I will not soon forget. I will also never forget that he did succeed in moving through it; just as his elevator skimmed the rock bottom of his life, it changed direction and began a slow and laborious climb upward again.

Not without a near-crisis, and not without a lot of help. He emphasizes that point and also has some solid advice and words of wisdom to pass on to anyone who lives with a sufferer of depression, be it family or friends.

Oh, and he also said he hoped that a better word would someday be found for this disease as he felt “depression” to be too dull and boring and not even close to describing the fierce and painful storms that occur in the mind and emotions of those suffering from debilitating depression.

I do recommend this book to anyone who may be confronting depression themselves or that of a family member or friend. It could help to save someone’s life.

This book provides a unique and deeply personal perspective on the often misunderstood and complex condition of depression. Styron's honest and detailed account not only helps readers understand the experience of depression but also offers hope and practical guidance for those affected by it. Whether you are struggling with depression yourself or know someone who is, this book is a valuable resource that can make a real difference.

**Darkness Visible: A Memoir of Madness by William Styron**

Darkness Visible is a profound memoir by American writer William Styron. It details his harrowing descent into the depths of depression and his remarkable journey towards recovery. First published in December 1989, it is one of his final and most influential works. At the time, depression was not widely understood, and this memoir played a significant role in raising awareness about the condition.

In October 1985, Styron traveled to Paris to receive a prestigious literary award. However, during the trip, his mental state rapidly deteriorated as his existing depressive symptoms worsened. He attributed his depression to his sudden withdrawal from years of alcoholism and his over-reliance on Halcion, a prescription drug for insomnia. Styron also briefly mentioned his father's battle with depression and his mother's premature death from breast cancer, which he believed might have contributed to his own mental decline.

The memoir not only chronicles Styron's personal experience but also offers valuable insights into the nature of depression. It challenges the common perception of the disorder and emphasizes the need for greater understanding and empathy. Styron's vivid descriptions and honest account make this memoir a powerful and moving read.

Overall, Darkness Visible is a significant work that has had a lasting impact on the field of mental health. It serves as a reminder that depression can affect anyone, regardless of their achievements or social status, and that recovery is possible with the right support and treatment.

The author's personal experience with his attempts to describe the depression he suffered to the extent that it led to the desire to commit suicide, but he changed his mind at the last moment and went to the hospital. However, he also mentioned examples of friends who suffered from depression and did not succeed in overcoming it but committed suicide.

The book is a guide for those who cannot understand the suffering of a depressed person and the author's desire to find another description or word for depression because people often mock it and think that everyone goes through periods of sadness and problems and that this does not require such dramatization. The word "depression" is actually very common, so anyone who feels stressed says that he is depressed, but depression is much deeper. The book also shows that sometimes at the peak of our success, we may be hit by depression. The author describes his personal experience when he traveled to receive an award that was supposed to make him fly with happiness, but the wave of depression was stronger and he felt that he did not deserve the award and his self-image deteriorated severely.

The book also gives hope to the depressed person about the possibility of recovery and the return of his life and happiness again. And I think that one of the factors that helped the author is the understanding and support of his wife and the understanding of his colleagues of his condition and his need for silence.

The author compares the exit of the depressed from the state of depression to the exit from the void and from the lower hell to heaven.

19/6/2019

I have felt the wind of madness.

Eastern is so touching and real, describing and explaining sadness! It is obvious that the name of the disease has changed from melancholia to sadness and depression over time. Because these new names make those who have no knowledge of this disease understand it superficially and prejudicially! Better alternative names are proposed in the book, such as: brain storm, confusion or nervous exhaustion, mental breakdown, and so on.

"Depression is actually a storm, but a dark storm. It can be answered very quickly, and the state close to collapse and the mental energy is reduced to zero. Eventually, the body is affected, it collapses and decomposes."

In my opinion, all those who have no understanding of this disease must read "Manifest Darkness" so that at least when facing the patients, they do not give in to hesitation and say "we have all experienced a bad mood and you just have to make yourself feel good, think positively, and so on!!"

"Sitting on the shore and telling someone who is in a whirlpool to swim is no less than an insult."

When darkness surrounds you, it is painful. But when the darkness is within you, it is something indescribable. The pain that cannot be described to others and they cannot see it. So often, the cause for them does not exist. Instead, it is something you create or overly react to.

Depression is the disease of the era, and most of us have fought it for a long or short period at some point in our lives. That burden lies in a hidden corner of our souls and drains our spirits, and it may cause an indelible impact. From here, we can feel the courage of William Styron, as represented by his writing of this memoir about his experiences with depression. It is clear from the lines that he is not happy to disclose some of his private details. Rather, the reader will finish the book and still not know much about the author's life and relationships except in the circle of darkness that settled in the author's heart and filled his surroundings.

The book is short and concise, but it is far from drowning in sentimentality and descriptive expressions. Instead, Styron focused on discussing the reasons that led him to the pit, as well as everything that contributed to his deterioration or improvement. We explore with the author some important ideas such as:

- Depression can affect anyone regardless of age, social status, or financial situation.

- The choice of doctor and especially the type of medication must be made with great care.

- There are some false ideas about psychotherapy, such as that hospitals are prisons of torture for mental patients.

- Finally and most importantly, depression is a treatable disease no matter how long the suffering and how wild it is.

I found that a large number of friends on the site had read this book before me, which means that the community of readers is a happy and enjoyable community and does not suffer from social problems.

Finally, I would like to share this passage that I found to be one of the most useful materials, especially for those who want to help a friend or relative who is suffering under the pressure of depression.

https://youtu.be/m-8tQ_TYLgk

William Styron was one of the dozens of writers who faced the monster of depression, even coming very close to suicide. In this book, he describes the entire situation he went through, from beginning to end, without redundancies and nonsense. Depression is one of the worst diseases that a person can have the misfortune to face at least once in his life. And for the sufferer, it is extremely difficult to accurately explain the why and how, to make the healthy person understand what a depressed person faces daily. Styron gives us an idea and the possibility to see a piece of the darkness of the human psyche, but also how he managed to escape forever from this Golgotha. The writing is very good, easy to read, direct and incisive. Styron says many things using few words. Initially, this text was published in 1989 in the magazine Vanity Fair and it didn't take long to be circulated independently as a book. It is a very interesting, important and well-written autobiographical book, but it should not be read as... a guide to dealing with depression. Unfortunately, there is no such guide. At some point in the future, I will definitely also read the magnum opus of the writer, "Sophie's Choice", which is also the only other book of the writer that has been translated into Greek to date.

As someone who has endured the hardships of an eating disorder and PTSD, I find Darkness Visible to be an incredibly inspiring read. It is only through sharing our personal stories of struggle and recovery that we can begin to break down the stigmas surrounding mental illness, which encompasses a wide range of disorders from bipolar disorder to schizophrenia and obsessive-compulsive disorder. William Styron's memoir about his battle with depression and suicidal ideation is truly pioneering. It showcases his remarkable courage in bringing to light a topic that has often been overshadowed by society's taboos.

With his personal and raw prose, Styron vividly details the onset of his depression and his arduous fight to seek help. He peppers his account with touches of dark humor and allusions to other individuals who have also endured suicidal thoughts, such as Randall Jarrell and Primo Levi. Styron's unwavering honesty gives his memoir an authenticity that is truly palpable. His meticulous attention to detail and self-analysis make his story feel all the more painful and real. A quote that encapsulates just a fraction of his turmoil is:

\\"In depression this faith in deliverance, in ultimate restoration, is absent. The pain is unrelenting, and what makes the condition intolerable is the foreknowledge that no remedy will come - not in a day, an hour, a month, or a minute. If there is mild relief, one knows that it is only temporary; more pain will follow. It is hopelessness even more than pain that crushes the soul.\\"

My favorite aspect of this book lies in Styron's final message of hope. He concludes his memoir in an uplifting and candid manner, acknowledging that while depression is indeed a terrible affliction, it can and does get better. Endings like these bring me the greatest joy because they recognize that although our current struggles may seem insurmountable, we still have a wealth of experiences to encounter and grow from in our life journeys. We still have an abundance of love to give and receive from the world and those around us. I will conclude this review with a closing quote from Darkness Visible:

\\"But one need not sound the false or inspirational note to stress the truth that depression is not the soul's annihilation; men and women who have recovered from the disease - and they are countless - bear witness to what is probably its only saving grace: it is conquerable.\\"

The book begins with the words: "For it has deceived me what I feared, and misled me what I dreaded. So there is no peace for me, no decision, no rest, after the club has overwhelmed me." Job's journey.

I always had a state of confusion and rejection when I saw a person with a mental or psychological disability. I would wonder internally why they act like this! And in fact, I was convinced that they did it deliberately and deserved punishment and condemnation. My situation was in the Egyptian and Arab society at that time, which did not recognize the psychological culture. It is a society that loves hypocrisy and enjoys throwing any difficult-to-understand or mysterious accusation at the genie, and loves to defame people and slander them based on the shell of their personalities, which may be in the form of different behaviors, whether deliberately or not. But I realized what these people were going through when I became one of them, and I learned then that you will not understand this situation unless you are inside it.

During your experience with depression, you will suffer from all kinds of pain. There is physical pain, as there are nerves that usually cause headaches, and lack of sleep causes physical pain and imbalance. The digestive system boils with the increase in the heat of the depressive waves, and wherever there is depression, there is the nervous colon, and of course, stomach and intestinal pains. In some severe cases, the ability to breathe normally is lost, the appetite for food is lost, and even if it is found, it is a barrier to digestion or absorption, and thus obesity. The sexual desire is lost, and your hatred of yourself can drive you to harm your body, not necessarily suicide, such as burning with fire, cutting, and suffocating.

As for the psychological pain, there is no hesitation to talk about it. You can imagine that your soul has taken on a body and is clothed with the skins of the ignorant era, or that your self is imprisoned with all kinds of remorse and regret for every minute that passes for you in this situation, or that the flower of your youth has withered prematurely and faded before its time. And I would like to add a pain that kills me every day when I think about it, which is the absence of dreams, not to mention your appearance in front of your friends and those who rely on you a lot, especially if you rely on them. "And it is enough for a person to sin by losing those who rely on him." As for the feeling of helplessness, I think that everyone who committed suicide was responsible for them.

For a long time, I have been telling myself about the shame that is attached to those who go to a psychiatrist or the hospital, and I am obsessed with thinking about the suffering that these people go through from all directions, and how all the solutions are closed in their faces, because of their illness on the one hand and society on the other hand. Then they eat their flesh if they commit suicide and accuse them of fleeing and weakness!

The extreme mood swings torture my mind like the alternation of night and day. They have become inevitable and cyclical like that eternal year. "Allah alternates the night and the day. Verily, in that are signs for those who have sight." Instead of my situation changing from time to time, it changes between night and its dawn. "Verily, in that are signs for those who have sight."

I cannot fathom how a personality like "Abbey Hoffman" or "Emily Dickinson" could be afflicted with depression, but this is a living proof that this disease is cunning and insidious, and it can afflict any soul, no matter how strong or perhaps cowardly it is.

The book is magical, with a hidden secret, woven with care and a high language. You feel that it is written by Roald Dahl, or that it is a film directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. The picture in front of you is ordinary and the language is realistic and simple, but it shouts with pains, emotions, and struggles that the words do not contain. At the same time, the book is an academic lecture that details depression.

The suffering presented by the author was not a superhuman suffering that could not be related to like most of the problems of creators, but it was real and sincere. His depression, like all depression, meets the reader on its broad lines so that the reader feels that he is reading a psychiatrist's assessment of his condition.

I would like to praise the wonderful translation by Anwar al-Shami. It is an important element of attraction and focus in the book. It was not like most translations that are factors for the loss of some meanings. It translated everything the author wanted and conveyed it, and it transcended the state of "Lost in Translation".

It is recommended to read it by all people. For those who suffer, it is beneficial and gives hope. The thread of hope is thin between the lines and words and is hardly visible. For ordinary people, it is a rich academic, scientific, and psychological meal, and it can earn them wisdom and intelligence in dealing with this shadow that is not far from any human being.

"Depression is a mood disorder that is accompanied by severe, obscure pain and great confusion in its way of presenting itself to the self - and to the intermediate mind - and it almost defies description. Therefore, it remains almost closed to the understanding of those who have not experienced it in its worst forms, although the grief or feelings of sadness that people experience from time to time, and which are related to the meaning of daily life, are widespread on a wide scale and give many a glimpse of the disease when it is in its tragic form."

"And then she uttered a few words that I had been committed to all my life and my pride in the resistance of my mental health made me unable to admit that I could utter them. A shiver ran through my body whenever I heard myself whispering these words to a complete stranger: 'I am sick' and I added: 'I have a psychological problem.'"

"There is only one philosophical and truly dangerous problem, and that is suicide. For the judgment that life is worth living or not worth living is, as it were, the answer to the fundamental question that philosophy poses."

"And when a person thinks about these men and women who committed suicide and were among the great creators, he finds himself drawn towards reflecting on the years of childhood that these suicides lived, and which perhaps during that time the seeds of the disease were sown with their strong roots. So was it possible for any of them to glimpse at that time their own vulnerability to destruction and their great fragility? And why did they rush to destroy themselves, while there were others who were afflicted with the disease like them, but they resisted it until the end?"

"And my brain began to face its committed enemy: nausea, severe smoking, and the feeling that the process of thinking for me had become surrounded by waves of toxicity and mystery that blocked any pleasant response to the world around me. This means more specifically that instead of pleasure - and of course instead of the pleasure that I should feel in the midst of these artistic paintings for that brilliant genius (Picasso) - I was feeling inside my head a feeling similar to real pain, but it differed from it in a way that was indescribable. And that made me touch again the mysterious nature of this grief. And here I do not use an indescribable expression in connection, because if it were a describable pain, most of these people who have no limit to their suffering from this ancient grief would have been able to describe with certainty to their friends and loved ones (even to their doctors) some of the real aspects of their torments. And perhaps they would have been able to extract a generally lacking understanding. And it is not due to the lack of this understanding to the lack of empathy in general, but to the inability of the healthy in general to imagine the suffering that they completely ignore in their daily lives. And in my case, the pain was usually similar to the feeling of drowning or suffocation, but even these expressions do not convey the meaning. And William James, who struggled with depression for many years, stopped looking for a descriptive image, a hint until that was almost impossible when he said in his book 'The Varieties of Religious Experience': 'It is pure and felt pain, and it is similar to a psychological nervous pain not known exactly in ordinary life.'"

"Because the mind is not ready to surrender to the reality of its increasing deterioration, it announces to its inner perception that the body with its failures that perhaps can be corrected - and not the precious mind that cannot be replaced - is what has been affected by the defect."

"Our need to follow the spirit of the era - which may have its justifications - has led us to soften the bad fall of many of the hardships and misfortunes that we inherit, and then to get rid of harsh and old words such as the mental hospital, the asylum, melancholy, mania, and insanity. But do not let doubt overcome you for a moment that depression in its acute form is nothing but insanity, and insanity results from a strange biochemical process. And it has been proven with a reasonable degree of certainty (after a long resistance by some psychiatrists, which did not take a long time) that this insanity is chemically stimulated between the nerve transmitters of the brain, and perhaps as a result of the pressures that all the body's organs are exposed to, and which a mysterious mechanism causes the depletion of two chemical substances, namely 'norepinephrine' and'serotonin', and also an increase in the levels of a hormone called 'cortisol'. "

"And sometimes, but not usually, this troubled mind may be haunted by malicious thoughts towards others. But since their minds are directed with their pains inward, the people affected by depression usually limit their severity to themselves. And in general, the insanity of depression is the opposite of violence. It is indeed a storm, but it is a thick foggy storm. And soon the person will show a slowness in his responses and a state of almost complete stupor, and his mental energy levels will decline until they approach zero. And in the end, the body will be affected by all that and will be seized by a feeling of breakdown and exhaustion."

"And among the phenomena that some people notice when they are afflicted with acute depression is the feeling that a second self is accompanying them, and it is like a watchman who resembles a ghost, and he does not participate in the mischief of his double, and he can watch his partner with a bored expression while he is struggling with the limited disaster or he decides to face it."

"And for those who lived in the dark forest of depression and knew its sufferings that are difficult for them to explain, their exit from the abyss is like the poet's ascent as he climbs the path of ascent from the lowest hell to the highest heaven, until he finally reaches what he considers the 'world of light'. Everyone who regains his health there usually regains the ability to joy and tranquility, and perhaps that is a better compensation for that hopelessness that follows despair, 'and thus we came out, and again we saw the stars.' "

First of all, the translation is really wonderful.

Secondly, it is a painful but inspiring experience of real hope. The idea of creation is that it tries to tell a person that he is alone in this pain, and no one in his life will understand or feel what we are in, and this is true to some extent. But in experiences like this one, it becomes clear that this disease is common and not as the sick mind pictures it, that it is the end of the world.

We should not let our perception of pain and illness limit our view of the world. Instead, we should look at it objectively and try to find solutions and hope.

Every experience, whether painful or not, can teach us something valuable and help us grow and become stronger.

We should embrace these experiences with an open heart and a positive attitude, and believe that there is always a way out and a better future waiting for us.