![]() ![]() There are mad scenes in Shakespeare: Lear, "cut to the brains" as a tempest rages through him, poor Ophelia "divided from herself and her fair judgment". Frenzy and mania are integral to ancient Greek drama: Dionysus, Medea, Electra, the Furies. Imaginative literature has been resourceful in filling that gap. ![]() But you don't really remember the details, the quality of suffering." ![]() As Norah Vincent explains it halfway through her book: "You know you felt terrible, and you know you don't want to feel that way again. No wonder mental distress remains a black hole. ![]() The other difficulty is recall: even those eager to describe their experiences may find they have been zapped by medication or lost for lack of a writing implement (the pen is an instrument of self-harm, literally as well as metaphorically, and ballpoints are banned from most psych wards). To own up to mental illness is to invite suspicion, prejudice and discrimination even the kinder labels - patient and survivor, say, rather than loony or headcase - carry a stigma. Hurry Down Sunshine: A Father's Memoir of Love and Madnessįirst-hand accounts of breakdown and depression were until recently something of a rarity, for obvious reasons. ![]()
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