The New Black: Mourning, Melancholia and Depression by Darian Leader
Thursday, 31 Jan 2008 17:09
Darian Leader looks at the dark secrets of depression.
Penguin, out January 31st.
In a nutshell...
Not the cheeriest of books.
What's it about?
While just 50 years ago depression was estimated to affect just 0.5 per cent of the global population, the World Health Organisation now predicts that the condition will be the single largest public health problem after heart disease. Is it right to put this massive increase down to more stressful lifestyles and a growing willingness for people to be open about their problems, or, as The New Black argues, have a number of disparate issues been conveniently banded together under one catch all term, in a drive for a short-term fix and improved pharmaceutical sales?
By exploring how people have dealt with negative emotions over the centuries, both in private as well as through public expressions such as art, and how psychoanalysts addressed such issue, Leader argues that we have lost sight of the individual nature of 'depression'. At the heart of most depressions, it is claimed, lies mourning and, by popping pills rather than expressing grief, sufferers merely unconsciously block up the natural processes and ultimately "die with the dead".
Who's it by?
Alongside his academic work at the Centre for Freudian Analysis and research, London-based psychoanalyst Darian Leader has published numerous books bringing Freud's ideas into the popular realm. Earlier works include Why Do Women Write More Letters Than They Post?, Stealing the Mona Lisa, Promises Lovers Make When it Gets Late and Freud's Footnotes, all praised as welcome antidotes to the pop-psychiatry of glossy magazines and daytime TV.
What the others say
"There are many self-help books on the market. Though not advertised as one, The New Black is a book that might actually help." - Linda Appignanesi, Independent
"The antiquated dualism in Leader's writing does no service either to neuroscientific research or to people suffering acute despair." - Jenny Diski, Times
As an example...
"When things go wrong, we want to be able to name the problem quickly, which makes us all the more receptive to the labels that doctors and drug companies offer us. Most of us also want to avoid the labour of exploring our inner lives, which means that we prefer to see symptoms as signs of some local disturbance rather than difficulties which concern our whole existence."
Likelihood of becoming a Hollywood blockbuster
While a Michael Moore-style exploration into the role played by the pharmaceutical giants in fostering a global sense of depression for commercial gain seems a feasible, even welcome, it is unlikely that cinema or television audiences would go mad for a non-sensationalist look at melancholy and mourning. Serious psychotherapy and popular entertainment don't seem to go together, as any glance at daytime TV would show.
So is it any good?
If nothing else, The New Black is an engaging read, with Leader setting his stall out early on for a comprehensive rebuttal of the current views on depression. From then on, we have, what is in essence, a fluid and well-written summary of the theories of Freud and his later disciples, with only passing reference given to the large number of scientists who still side with the argument that there is a biochemical factor to depression.
As entertaining and thought-provoking as his polemic is, it is never entirely convincing, particularly given all the case studies cited by Leader seem to illustrate his point, with the therapists involved seemingly jumping to conclusions in their efforts to prove their Freudian theories.
Far more interesting than the debate over the exact cause of depression and melancholia is Leader's later exploration into the role of public mourning and how the arts have, over the centuries, been used to express what is supposed to be seen as a private issue. By showing that creativity can be a useful tool for dealing with loss and the associated feeling of grief, The New Black proposes a potential remedy in a far more convincing manner than it illustrates a cause.
6/10
David Hewitt
Agree with this review? Have a different opinion? Let us know your thoughts (without being too abusive to our poor reviewers please) and we'll post the best ones on the site.
Write your comments below: