And I wish I knew what was wrong.".
(-Wurtzel, prologue).
This passage jumped out at me, and effected me so greatly, because it almost seems to drip with self-pity, worthlessness, and a sense of surrender. Not only a surrender to depression, but to herself as well. At least at first. Upon a second, and more careful, examination of this passage, it becomes clear that the exact opposite is actually true. The fact that Elizabeth has had to live threw the experiences she's had (beginning with a broken home at age three), and yet still possesses the urge to fight to stay alive, and not to submit to either the continual temptation of suicide, or the pressuring of doctors to be put into a psychiatric ward, is an extremely awe inspiring and respect worthy act on her part.
I also couldn't help but notice the existentialistic tone used by Wurtzel in this cut. To most people, happiness is the norm, and to be depressed is abnormal, and something that should be avoided at all costs. To Wurtzel, however, happiness is not something each person is given, until taken away, but rather something you don't have until you've achieved. Depression is everywhere, and with everyone, the exception being those who had defeated the enemy and won the battle. .
The next passage that I chose from "Prozac Nation" was taken from a later point in the book, the epilogue, to be exact. By this point, the reader has already learned all of Wurtzel's life, up to this point, and has traveled with her from her early days of summer camp, to her lonely days of high school, and finally to college life, which was filled with therapy sessions, over doses, and multiple moves from New York, to Texas, and back and forth and back again. After her second (or is it third?) suicide attempt, which she was saved from, partially because of her therapist, Dr. Sterling, Elizabeth comes to the following conclusion;.
"In a strange way, I had fallen in love with my depression.
