The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression Chapter Summary & Analysis | Depression

Depression Summary

In order to be able to love, one must be able to experience despair at the loss of love. Medication for depression protects the mind and, therefore, makes it easier to love; this is the reason medications work so well. Life is full of sorrow from the very beginning, however. This sorrow stems from the anger one feels after being ripped out of the comfortable womb. In today's world more than ever, though, there is less and less unpleasantness in life.

Despite medicine, depression cannot be wiped out, only contained. The two models for depression are the dimensional and the categorical. The dimensional model suggests that depression is sadness-feelings everyone has felt before, only on a more intense level. The categorical model suggests that depression is in a new category by itself. Many people are relieved when they hear their depression categorized as chemical depression, because they feel they cannot...
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