By Jasmine Badun
Book title: A Cure For Darkness
Author: Alex Riley
Publication year: 2021
Publisher: Ebury Press
ISBN: 9781785039027
Price: RM69.90
“A Cure for Darkness” is science writer Alex Riley’s debut of storytelling on his personal experience with depression, along with the history of the science of mental health and the search for cures.
After years of cognitive behavioural therapy and antidepressants for depression, Alex decides to stop taking antidepressants by gradually reducing the amount taken with the support of his partner, Lucy.
Throughout his treatment, he keeps on wondering if antidepressants are effective, as he suffers from side effects and becomes more reclusive.
“Are antidepressants effective? Do short-term talk therapies actually work? And what treatments are on the horizon for those who don’t respond to these first-line treatments?” These are the questions he asks along his journey to understanding depression.
He then digs into the history of depression, together with the lives of scientists and psychiatrists who sought to find cures for their patients.
From Sigmund Freud’s story on his prescient insights into the potential cause of depression disorder to Louis Jolyon West’s thoughts on lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), Alex shares his knowledge of mental health history in journalistic writing, which makes it more interesting to read.
This book is a great read for those who would like to get more knowledge about mental health from a more personal point of view.
He also learns that mental illness has always been a part of his family history, from his grandmother, whom he had never met, to his mother and himself.
However, when the COVID-19 pandemic hits, he starts to doubt his decision to stop taking antidepressants as the situation took a toll on his health and he was trying to adjust to a new life without antidepressants in the unusual situation of a pandemic.
When the COVID-19 pandemic forced everyone to adapt to a new lifestyle instantly in 2020, Alex had to brace himself for just another day of fighting depression, maybe more than before, as he promised his partner and himself to stop taking antidepressants.
In this book, Alex describes meditation as an antidepressant without side effects, as long as one’s depressive thoughts are not allowed to spiral and grow.
Upon trying to not go back to being dependent on antidepressants for having suicidal thoughts, Alex also tries running and doing exercises.
He shares that after three months of tapering his dose toward zero, he swallowed his last pill of sertraline on March 6, 2020.
The book is divided into four parts: part one: cutting steps into the mountain, part two: the biological approach seems to be working, part three: getting therapy, and lastly, part four: the universe within.
In the introduction, he talks about his story, which is pretty personal and moving, as he talks about his childhood to his present-day in 2021.
In parts one to four, he tracks mental health therapies throughout history, from the “talking cure” to electroconvulsive therapy to magic mushrooms, based on his personal experiences with depression.
Alex also stated that the future of mental health care relies not only on the development of novel treatments, but also on expanding access to those who now lack it.
Alex also said that each of the depression patients’ experiences is a testament to the struggles faced by people with depression around the world, and how recovery is still possible even in the most hopeless scenarios.
The stories of depression in one book are well written and evocative, which can help readers see depression in a new light.
In his writing, Alex also explains that the word “depression” is almost meaningless from the global perspective view, as a person’s language and culture influence the views on this issue, affecting the patient’s decision to seek help for their mental health.
He says that some prefer to call this mental health problem just emotional suffering, heart pain, or thinking too much.
This book potentially raises awareness about depression and the stigma and ignorance that still surrounds mental health illnesses.
“A Cure for Darkness” also brings hope and inspiration to mental health patients, family members, and anyone who seeks the cure for mental health illness.
