Chapters 9 and 10 Summary

Styron gives hope to those who suffer from depression by offering up the fact that most of the people who endure it manage to come out on the other side with few permanent wounds. Unfortunately, those who have been afflicted once will experience a recurrence but will know better how to manage it because of the initial experience.

The author calls on the friends and relatives of depressed people to never give up the vigil of validating the person's worth and boosting the sense of self which is so critical to managing through to a healthier state.

The cause of depression has never been formally declared but the author can trace the roots of his own illness to that of the loss of his mother when Styron was only thirteen. Complicating the scenario, Styron's own father had been afflicted with bouts...