Perhaps my 14 year old self or so to say my last year self would have wholeheartedly loved this book .However I still loved Elizabeth’s raw and honest emotions specially her vulnerability, because I’ve been through this , because I know how it all feels . Though it sometimes got too repetitive ; but that’s just how depression hits , the same melancholic melody all over again , being too self centered, but that’s how one is when depression can’t seem to leave your system .Solely seeking to find one’s happiness , so centered in that, that you merely cant grasp that other people have their own issues , their own lives .
looking forward to watch the movie anyway.

Meh.

Her epilogue says it all. I think in addition to clinical depression, Wurtzel had some personality disorder or perhaps an insecurity that meant she wanted to feel special, even in her depression (she's very taken with herself as a "golden child" and constantly laments her inability to use her potential). She criticizes the rise of Prozac prescriptions and casts doubts on other peoples' ability to be as depressed as her.

I get the "whiny" critiques, but that was her pain and how she talked about it. That's fine; pain is pain (even if she was hella privilaged). What really got me was that she put her pain in the context of others (they don't get it, they're not depressed, blah blah blah). Your pain is your pain. Why was there this incessant need to tell her friends and mom and the reader that no one felt the same as she did? That no one got it? Her whole family was depressed, clearly she was not alone even though she insisted she was. Depression is isolating but doesn't render you incapable of empathy.

Her complete inability to understand her friends and family and people in general was troubling and annoying. Maybe that is why she thinks others are less capable of feeling as she? Wurtzel described everyone is her life so coldly, with detachment. Weird, and I think stemming from something in addition to her depression.

So, the "whining" didn't bother me, but the weird obsession with her specialness sure did. If you want to read about depression, David Foster Wallace was a good example of someone who understood depression better than anyone else but didn't try to twist it into a special thing.

my childhood paperback copy of prozac nation is nubby with the filmy coating of the softcover ripped off. i always wonder if this was a design bonus, a do it yrself hobbykit proving yr anxious teenage worth at the altar of grrrl.

So. I know this is technically an iconic book, was on the bestseller lists, etc. But to me it just seemed like she was complaining the whole time, almost reveling in how much her life was messed up. The funny thing is, she was able to have a professional writing career and have friends, all while seemingly keeping up a steady stream of complaining. Maybe that's not funny. That's another thing about the reviews, they said the book was "funny." In the last 30 pages she finally gets to how everyone is taking Prozac now and what that is doing to our generation, the country, etc. Maybe I just hated the book because I was expecting the entire book to be...not just about her. Or maybe I hated it because I found it boring and whiny. I gave it two stars because everything was spelled correctly.

so whiney, selfish, needy, self-absorbed, self-righteous, irritating, and just all around annoying. this memoir loves to wallow in its own misery and wants to drag everyone down with it. such an obnoxious voice to it all- i wanted desperately for her to stop relating her experiences to sylvia plath, it was causing me physical pain. stuck thru the entirety of the book instead of DNFing and it didn’t get better, in fact the epilogue where she complains that too many people are on prozac now and she isn’t special anymore made the book even worse. i have such a bad taste in my mouth for this author.

I liked this book. A lot of people are bothered by the author's self absorption but that is the truth of depression - it turns you into a emotional parasite. Wurtzel is brutally honest and self aware, she knows the pain she causes others but is powerless to change- "They have no idea how much energy and exasperation I am willing to suck out of them until I feel better. I will drain them and drown them until they know how little of me there is left even after I’ve taken everything they’ve got to give me because I hate them for not knowing." - she doesn't try to defend her behavior or appear sympathetic, but lays everything bare, warts and all, in order to give as realistic a portrayal of depression as possible.

Wurtzel spends the novel desperately searching for an external cause to explain/justify her feelings. She analyses her childhood and relationship with her parents, which while dysfunctional do not seem to justify the severity of her depression. She uses drugs to numb the pain and sabotages her romantic relationships in order to feel like she has a legitimate reason to be suffering. After having a miscarriage, she is almost relieved to have outer trauma to correspond to her inner state.

She gives a detailed account of her symptoms and mood cycles which is useful for anyone who wants to gain an understanding of the nature of depression. Even her writing style, confused and chaotic, mimics the distracted and disorganized thought process of someone who is depressed.

I found this book both draining and cathartic, and would recommend it to anyone with depression as it shows you you are not alone.

(P.S I disagree with the people accusing her of privilege. She grew up with a single mother working part time and won scholarships through talent, not money. That is the opposite of privilege. She succeeded DESPITE her circumstances.
And even if you have a great life that doesn't mean you don't have the "right" to be depressed. People with depression are too often accused of being ungrateful, self indulgent, told they need to "get over themselves" because there are people less fortunate than them ect., but it doesn't work like that. You don't need a "reason" to be depressed, it's a chemical imbalance and should be taken as seriously as any illness.)

Amusingly read this during one of my own depressive episodes (though I don't think it made anything worse), which is why it took me so much longer to finish. Wurtzel was definitely dramatic at times, but I found the raw and honesty of her writing valuable and even a bit relatable. Not too many are willing to lay out all their "ugly" in such a manner for the world to consume. I don't really have much else to say nor the capacity at present to give it a more critical review, just will say that it's written from her atypical depressive perspective, and while in her early 20's.

I have seen the movie as well, but now I'm thinking I should revisit it.

3.5 stars

some lines were eerily similar to exact thoughts I had while on my depressed states and that legit fucked me up so bad.

but this was a bit long. also I thought I'd read more about the breakthrough of SSRIs (particularly Prozac) in the 80's and its impact on mental health, specifically depression, in this book, because that's what THE TITLE PROMISES YOU, but there was only like, one chapter on that towards the end and that's it. but overall this was an enjoyable, hard-hitting, emotionally-charged read and the writing flowed very smoothly.

Haha, so many people hate her for being so self-absorbed and whiney and I agree, she is - but I love her for it. I think it's honest; it's a fair depiction of what a lot of people feel when they're depressed and I thought it was powerfully written. Maybe I need to read it again now that I'm older but I do remember loving it several years ago.

I'd like to add that there's another review on this website that slams this book for being whiny and that Wurtzel should 'just get over it' because there's people out there who have suffered more and are more entitled to being in emotional pain than she is. Er, wrong. Pain isn't something that is on a scale, you can't compare pain between people. The reviewer implies that depression and mental illness isn't real pain and that you have to be a war victim to know what real pain is. Bullshit. I've suffered from anxiety and depression and I've also suffered 'real' trauma as well and I'd give up everything to not have to deal with depression or anxiety ever again.

Suffering from mental illness does not equate to *just* being whiny, self-pitying or attention seeking; it may look like that's all depressed people are on the outside but those things are just the scabs on a deeper, festering wound. You can't often tell that someone has cancer just by looking at them and you can't assume how they feel so why would being mentally ill be any different? If a cancer patient "whined" about how rough they were feeling you'd hardly berate them for doing so. Being stoic might be an admirable quality to some but to others, the pain that can be caused by psychic anguish is unbearable and they can't help but be visibly distressed, to speak of their discomfort, to ask for help or attention.

I myself have never experienced anything worse and keeping quiet about my issues only led me straight to almost killing myself.

Also, most people don't become drug addicts or alcoholics for the ~glamour~. These are real problems, just as real as anything else going on out there. Sure, some people that suffer from these problems may be privileged people. They may have, from what looks from the outside, to be 'easy' good lives. Doesn't change how fucking devastating mental illness can be. It's too variable to be able to compare one person's experience to another's.

Whether you think Wurtzel herself is self-indulgent, whiny or attention-seeking is debatable. People with depression can read that way. People with depression can be downright unbearable but it's often not their fault. I don't know, it's so complicated.

Although my teacher tells me that this is not "literature," I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in depression issues or the genre of memoir.

I sent this book to a friend and she hated it because of the main character, Lizzie. This is what I love about this book. It is honest and doesn't sugarcoat things. It describes Lizzie's good times and mostly bad times and her struggles within herself. It also touches on so many other topics like family, addiction, relationships, etc.

If you have depression or know someone that does, I think that this book would be an eye opener. It may not be the very best "literary work" on the planet, but Elizabeth Wurtzel's words spoke to me and resonated at my core. The honesty and raw truths that are not held back are what makes this book successful, in my opinion.

Again, it's much, much, much better than the movie!!!

Third reading. This is an interesting read if you idealize the Nineties, and the ending seems curiously valid today, but if yet another student chooses this book for their project, I will run away screaming like a banshee.

I definitely can understand why this book has mixed reviews and many people who did not enjoy it. My guess is these people who see Wurtzel as a whiny and lethargic girl more than likely never dealt with real depression in their own life. I read this book during a time where I was suffering from a deep depression after my father passed away. I felt isolated from the world because it seemed like no one understood where I was coming from. It was as if the sky was falling and only I could see it. Then I picked up Wurtzel’s book. For a week I sat at Starbucks glued to the pages, relating to almost every word. I felt like I wasn’t alone anymore.

*spoiler*

I had my issues with the end, it felt too quick… she takes a pill and everything is all better? After all she had been through? Ironically though, that ended up being my experience, and this book helped me to become more open minded to medication. Though medication isn’t the only thing that has aided my recovery from depression (and actually is no longer a part of my recovery, I am medication free today), it brought me out of the darkest place my mind had ever gone when everything else had failed.

*end spoiler*


I definitely praise Wurtzel for her honesty and would recommend this to anyone who has or feels as though they are suffering from depression. Though I would give a disclaimer that it definitely isn’t a book that will pick you up or make you feel better, it will just make you feel like you aren’t alone with your depression which can be really helpful since depression is such an isolating disease.