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Betweenibri who tell tales of depressionone of the first in chronological order was The dark evilthe novel written by Giuseppe Berto and published in 1964. It is partly thanks to this book, winner of two prestigious literary prizes in just one week, the Campiello and the Viareggio prize, if today depression is commonly defined precisely the dark evil, as the title of the volume states. Written as a kind of stream of consciousness, the book in fact tells the autobiographical story of the authorhis battle against neurosis and against a disease still unknown at that time, which he will be able to partially remedy with the help of psychoanalysis and above all of the writing.
Depression today is certainly more talked about than in the past but in some ways that of mental illness remains a stigma difficult to break down. Precisely for this reason, even the books that deal with the topic from the point of view of those who have known depression closely and managed to defeat it, can make a difference, giving an important contribution to breaking the taboo as well as giving hope to those who still struggling to get out of it.
Even today there is no shortage of examples of authors who have decided to entrust to the pages of a book the suffering of a pathology as subtle to face as it is difficult to tell to those who do not know it closely.
This is the case, for example, of Simona Vinci who in Speak, my fear (Einaudi) describes his autobiographical experience struggling with anxiety, panic and depression, but also by Matt Haig, English writer and journalist, author of Reasons to keep livingbook defined by the Sunday Times “one of the freshest, most practical and forward-looking books on depression “.
“Depression is the most democratic disease that exists, because it affects everyone, rich or poor, well-known people or totally unknown”, Indro Montanelli said. In fact, several characters in the show have also said to suffer from depression, some of whom then decided to tell their path of pain and rebirth in a book. Among these Daniele Bossari who in the volume The hidden face of light (Mondadori, 2019) writes that he fought with scary demons, between sleepless nights, alcohol and feelings that are difficult to describe but that he managed to re-emerge from the darkest abysses also thanks to the love of those who were close to him. It was 2013, however, when Veronica Pivetti went out in the bookstore with hers I stopped crying. My odyssey to get out of depression (Mondadori), a book in which the famous actress and TV presenter tells with irony, but at the same time extreme sincerity, one of the most difficult periods of her life.
There are also several autobiographical books that deal with the topic of postpartum depression, an increasingly widespread problem which, according to official data, is of interest from the 7 to 12% of new mothers. Reborn mom (Blitos Edizioni) is the book in which Valentina Colmi, now a mother of three children, tells of her ordeal struggling with “a disease – writes the author – devious and ‘liquid’ that manifests itself immediately after childbirth and robs those of it she is affected by the first months of her children’s lives “. A touching testimony that you first want to convey a message that should never be forgotten: depression, even post partum depression, is a disease and as such it can be treated and defeated.
In the gallery below, then, 9 books that tell stories of depression (and rebirth).
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Source: Vanity Fair