Shoot the Damn Dog: A Memoir of Depression

by Sally Brampton

The defining character of severe depression was, for me, that absolute loss of trust.

Here’s Bruce McEwen, speaking at the 2006 Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association: The brain is very resilient. Give it a chance and it will make every effort to repair itself. A combination of psychotherapy, cognitive behaviour therapy and pharmaceuticals could actually change the brain and restore it more or less to normal. When even neuroscientists are telling us that therapy can restore the brain to normal function, we should sit up and take notice. Or start talking. The

Letting go is not getting rid of. Letting go is letting be.

‘Are you frightened it will come back?’ Of course. Do I worry about it? No. Worrying is a holding on to, a tightening of the coils. I take action to avoid a relapse. That’s different from worrying about it. Worrying is inaction, a paralysis of fear. It is an agitation about a future that has not happened, and a past that cannot be changed. It can be understood, explained, even apologised for. But it cannot be changed.