The Noonday Demon

by Andrew Solomon

An American adult with depression would have his illness recognized only about 40 percent of the time.

Less than half of those whose illness is recognized will get appropriate treatment.

as many as 10 percent of all Americans now living can expect to have a major depressive episode during their life. About 50 percent will experience some symptoms of depression.

Grooming is one of the primary forms of socialization among primates, and this return to grooming as a socializing force among human beings struck me as curiously organic.

to sit around and be depressed when you are finally at a remove from trauma and your life is not a mess is awfully confusing and destabilizing.

I wear contact lenses and without them am virtually blind, and I do not feel shamed by my lenses or by my need for them (though given my druthers, I’d choose perfect vision). The constant presence of the medications is for me a reminder of frailty and imperfection;

while more than 80 percent of depressed patients are responsive to medication, only 50 percent are responsive to their first medication—or, indeed, to any particular medication.

Depression can also be caused by positive change. Having a baby, getting a promotion, or getting married are almost as likely to kindle depression as a death or loss.

“Depression is a response to past loss, and anxiety is a response to future loss.”