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Portraits of Resilience
Photographs and stories of people who have coped with and overcome depression, anxiety, trauma, and other challenges. "In MIT professor Daniel Jackson's recent book, Portraits of Resilience , being resilient means being vulnerable. It a gives a glimpse into how students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology—one of the most competitive and elite universities in the world—cope, overcome, and find meaning in their lives."
—The Boston Globe More than 15 million Americans grapple with depression in a given year, and 40 million are affected by anxiety disorders. And yet these people are often invisible, hidden, unacknowledged. At once a photo essay and a compendium of life stories, Portraits of Resilience brings us face to face with twenty-two extraordinary individuals, celebrating the wisdom they have gained on the frontline of a contemporary battle. We hear from a young man who was struck with a debilitating sadness just when his life seemed to have turned around, and a medical student whose self-image was transformed by an antidepressant. We meet a physicist whose troubles led him to reassess the role human connection played in his life, an overachiever who developed one of her closest friendships in a mental hospital, and administrative assistant who grew up with an abusive parent but learned to heal and create a new life for herself. No one is immune to depression or anxiety; all of these narrators achieved success as students, faculty, or staff in the demanding world of MIT. The pressures of a competitive and high-pressure environment will be familiar to many. And the mysterious and overwhelming grip of depression will be recognized by those who have suffered from it. But the search for purpose and meaning that pervades these stories is relevant to everyone. These wise people give us not only solace and reassurance as we face our own challenges, but also the inspiration that challenges can be overcome—and that happiness, while elusive, can eventually be found.
—The Boston Globe More than 15 million Americans grapple with depression in a given year, and 40 million are affected by anxiety disorders. And yet these people are often invisible, hidden, unacknowledged. At once a photo essay and a compendium of life stories, Portraits of Resilience brings us face to face with twenty-two extraordinary individuals, celebrating the wisdom they have gained on the frontline of a contemporary battle. We hear from a young man who was struck with a debilitating sadness just when his life seemed to have turned around, and a medical student whose self-image was transformed by an antidepressant. We meet a physicist whose troubles led him to reassess the role human connection played in his life, an overachiever who developed one of her closest friendships in a mental hospital, and administrative assistant who grew up with an abusive parent but learned to heal and create a new life for herself. No one is immune to depression or anxiety; all of these narrators achieved success as students, faculty, or staff in the demanding world of MIT. The pressures of a competitive and high-pressure environment will be familiar to many. And the mysterious and overwhelming grip of depression will be recognized by those who have suffered from it. But the search for purpose and meaning that pervades these stories is relevant to everyone. These wise people give us not only solace and reassurance as we face our own challenges, but also the inspiration that challenges can be overcome—and that happiness, while elusive, can eventually be found.
152 pages, Hardcover
Published November 16, 2017
About the author
Daniel Jackson
6 books15 followersDaniel Jackson is professor of computer science and associate director of CSAIL, MIT’s largest lab. His software research won an Impact Award and Outstanding Research Award from the Association for Computing Machinery, and he is an ACM Fellow. He is lead designer of the Alloy software modeling language. He led a National Academies study on software dependability, and has collaborated on software projects with NASA on air-traffic control, with Massachusetts General Hospital on proton therapy, and with Toyota on autonomous cars.
Jackson is also a photographer. His book Portraits of Resilience, which combines stories and images of people who've experienced mental health challenges, was featured on PBS's Newshour and NPR’s Here and Now.
Jackson is also a photographer. His book Portraits of Resilience, which combines stories and images of people who've experienced mental health challenges, was featured on PBS's Newshour and NPR’s Here and Now.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 21, 2018
I found this rather shallow. I would have liked to see multiple pictures of the person or illustrations that relate to the narrations. As it stood, the interviews were also shallow. I wanted something more engulfing.
March 30, 2018
Truly beautiful book. So happy I got to read this; its subjects' stories are so humanizing and powerful, and the photographs accompany their accounts perfectly.
August 20, 2021
Everyone at MIT or in a similarly competitive high-pressure environment should read this
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews