Depression is one of the most common psychological problems in the United States. According to our textbook 17% of Americans experience an acute episode of depression, and as in William Styron’s case, 6% experience a more chronic depression. It seems as if rates of depression decrease the more people age. In Styron’s case however, the onset of his depression came at a much later age. His father had a history of depression and depression is known to run in families. I believe Styron’s depression began after the death of his mother when he was thirteen years old. This is evident when reading some of his other literary works. He was living with depression for many years but the alcohol abuse simp

Styron mentions in the book that artistic people seem to have a much higher rate of depression and suicide. I find this very interesting. I haven’t been able to find any information validating his assumption however it does make one think. With people like Ernest Hemmingway, Vincent Van Gogh, and Jack London all being diagnosed with melancholy or depression in their times and committing suicide it makes you wonder what caused these literary/artistic geniuses depression and eventually suicide. It also makes one think that depression may have a positive side to it, enabling these people to convey their deepest thoughts and ideas.

Immediately after returning from Paris Styron went and sought professional help. After an evaluation by his doctor Styron was put on an antidepressant Ludiomil. Ludiomil is a tetra cyclic drug that works by increasing the level of noradrenalin in the brain, it is a sedative and as been shown to improve the persons sleeping patterns. This medication did not help him at all. Styron exhibited a good amount of the adverse reactions to this drug. In order for Styron to try out another antidepressant he would have to wait ten days for the Ludiomil to leave his body. For someone in the state he was in this can seem like an eternity. His psychiatrist then suggested Nardil. Nardil also known as Phenelzine is a powerful MAO inhibitor. Nardil is used in atypical cases of major depression, thus making sense of his atypical sleeping behaviors. Before he could be put on Nardil something happened. Styron realized that his life was more than he could ever abandon, the next day he admitted himself to a psychiatric hospital.

As his conditions worsened, he did some research on depression possibly trying to self diagnose himself. This is interesting because today you see many people doing that much more often than in the past because of the media’s influence. An example of this is the Prozac commercials you see on TV almost every day. The commercial states that if you have been feeling down or depressed for more than two weeks you may have clinical depression. When a person hears this they may actually diagnose themselves as being depressed and do more harm than good thinking they are suffering from a serious medical illness when really they are upset that their goldfish died or something along those lines. As Styron researches depression and learns more of what is wrong with him no matter what he reads or understands nothing seems to help him.

Some topics in this essay:
William Styron’s, Canadian Geese, Halcion Styron, Styron Paris, Therapy ECT, Ludiomil Ludiomil, William Styron, Nardil Phenelzine, Jack London, Styron Halcion, major depression, melancholic features, severely depressed, styron dependant alcohol, major depression melancholic, returning paris, gradually worse, canadian geese, alcohol abuse, central nervous system, major depressive, canadian geese honking, depression suicide, major depression catatonic, depressed mood,