Prozac Nation: Young and Depressed in America

Prozac nation is a detailed account of what a person goes through with depression. For those who have no understanding of depression it sheds some light for them and it illustrates perfectly the hells that these depressed individuals can go through. For people who are depressed themselves and, it gives them something to connect to and relate to. For people who are only mildly depressed it shows them how bad things could be and that their situation isn't as bad as they think. This book leaves you pulling for Elizabeth. With every page you turn you hope that the next one will say she has found happiness. This book is not for people with low tolerance of other peoples situations or don't strive to understand. It sets a grey mood and brings you into her mind. For people who thirst to understand, are depressed and looking for something to relate to, or just looking for something to make their life not seem so bad, I recomend this book

As someone currently on Prozac for depression, I knew I had to read this book to see how, if at all, I could identify with what the author described herself going through. Even though I know that it was written over 20 years ago. Still it was a thought-provoking read. And I did see some incidents in the book that were nearly the same as (if not identical to) what I had gone through before beginning my Prozac last year. Although it took me this long to realize I suffered from depression and needed to seek help. I felt I was brave to have read this.

I now want to write about my own story. For a while, I didn't think that was a good idea, I felt this was the definitive book on the subject, but everyone tells me my story is different.

First I read Bitch. I thought, «well, interesting ideas, intelligent writer, and beautiful too, I must add...but the book is all over the place, it's scattered, sometimes she loses focus». When I read the next book by E.W., More, Now and Again, I found it a bit boring, though she is insightful. Other reviewers call her self-absorbed and selfish, and I agree. I also found out why Bitch is a mess: she was on coke and snorted Ritalin when she wrote. Not surprising.

Prozac Nation was the next one I read. It was actually the first one she wrote. The cover said «Sylvia Plath with the ego of Madonna». Stupid blurb for a book... other blurbs on the cover compare the book with On The Road by Kerouac. «Another stupid blurb», I thought.

Self-absorbed she is. A brat who seems to have the friends, the money, the breaks. But very talented she is. She mentions several times that she was a «girl full of promise but...» This is the general idea you get when you read Wurtzel. She doesn't quite get there; she's no Hemingway, but she's no Jackie Collins or Harry Potter and Company Ltd. either.

She is a real writer. It's very difficult to explain to someone who never experienced depression how depression is, what it feels like, and the best compliment I can pay Miss Wurtzel is that she can really describe it as it is. (I been there, so I know). I think it should be read by people who are or have been depressed.

I don't understand why Prozac Nation stirred controversy. It's just reality, you know. But then again reality means controversy for some stupid minds. I found the conclusions at the end quite brilliant. It also has a bit of dark humour.

She says she wants to write like rock and roll and in some sections of the book she manages to do it. It's a good book, a real page turner. A bit of a downer, but that comes with the territory. It's full of vivid writing though.

The comments Liz Wurtzel made on 9/11 were wacky, stupid and criminal. She must have been on drugs, but she's to blame all the same.

I think the book can be compared with On The Road, changed my mind when I finished it. A few years from now, might even be a classic.

I read somewhere that E. W. is going to law school? Is she going to quit writing? She still hasn't written her best book...

Prozac Nation is not a book of great poetics, but it is a compelling book nonetheless. There is no question that Ellie comes across as an annoying, self-indulgent, self-absorbed, conceited and winy brat, but PN is a portrait of a disease, not a novel. I gave the book high ratings with that in mind - for what it is meant to be, this is an excellent book. In particular, the writing managed to draw me into the depths of her emotional states. Often times, I wanted someone to slap her with Cher's "snap out of it," but I also came to understand what it might feel like to live with a pain that is unending, unendurable and perhaps incurable.
One of the most telling details, for me, came at times when Ellie expressed strange feelings of jealously guarded pride - my depression is worse than your depression. For me, this captured the essence of the psychological power game that seems to lie hidden within her condition.
My only problem with the book is that when it was done, I wanted more. I hated letting go of her.

I highly, highly recommend this book to anyone that is trying to understand what it is like to suffer from severe depression. This book was painfully accurate to me, reading it a good 12 years after Wurtzel originally wrote it. I found myself constantly underlining profoundly descriptive phrases and paragraphs. I started giving it to friends who didn't understand what I was going through. You don't have to be white and middle class to relate to her descriptions of depression.

I now work on an in-patient psychiatric unit and I often recommend this book to the families of patients who are trying to understand depression. I caution actively depressed people from reading it, because it will make you feel even more depressed, but it is so POWERFULLY good at explaining what depression is like. A great read!

when reading through the reviews of this book, i get the feeling that depressed people like it, while not-depressed people resent it. that is very sad. it actually means,that depressed people will only ever be understood by other depressed people. People who have never been touched by depression will never udnerstand. Depression isn't something you choose to be interesting or out of fun. In fact, I think that of most people you don't know they are depressed because they are well at hiding.
From some of the reviews I get the feeling people think that it's just her own fault. That really makes me cringe. For me personally, this book was a revelation which told me for the first time the name of the 'problem' which i have. Depression. To anyone who suffers from depression themselves I can only recommend this book. It has made me feel better in fact.Oh well...

this book is one of my favourite books, the first two chapters or so, i wasn't too thrilled about it, but i think i should blame it on my own mindset, because a couple months later i picked it up again from where i left off (skimming about 20 pages before to recap) and i became completely absorbed into elizabeth's narcissism. i think one would only enjoy this book when one can relate to the feelings of the character and her experiences, in the sense that this book (and depression itself) is very self-centred and for those who can't relate to it, they will only feel pity and/or annoyance towards the character because it goes overboard with the sympathy craving.

the positive aspect of the book is that i felt it practically dissects the mind of wurtzel and shows you the thoughts of a particular young adult who suffers from depression, letting you into her world. wurtzel's writing is honest, straight-forward and descriptive. her random thoughts were interesting and quite inspiring, there were a couple passages in the book that caught my eye.

the author, being born and raised in a typical dysfunctional american family, the past was mainly respondsible for her descend into depression. even with caring friends, an education at an ivy league schoo (harvard), loving boyfriends (that came and go) and charisma, the subject still wallowed in her own self pity, unable to see the beauty surrounding her, or rather, unable to understand why, even with all that, she could still suffer like this. it was a condition, and not an option, even though she probably indulged in it a little, or a bit too much. overall i found this a great read, and quite detailed. i would highly recommand it to someone who wants to escape reality for a couple hours and be completely absorbed into someone else's life and pain, but if you find the author too selfish and irrational, you can still come to understand what depression can do to a person. and for someone suffering from depression, it would be a valuable insight towards another sufferer's experience knowing that you're not alone, and there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Personally, I am not convinced that Elisabeth Wurtzel suffers from depression. I am not a mental health professional, but have have a degree in biology and have read extensively on the topic. Sure, she has depressive symptoms, but her main problem appears to be more in line with a personality disorder, borderline or narcissistic. That would best explain the superficial charm, grandiosity, self-senteredness and erratic projections of anger that are evident in the book, as well as her chaotic lifestyle choices over the years. She is doing disservice to bona fide depression by promoting a stereotype of depressed people being whiny and self-centered. I think it is pretty outrageous that she is now a poster child for this condition, and actively promotes exclusively pharma-based treatments to impressionable young adults. The writing itself is terrible, sloppy and pretentious. Don't waste your time on this book.

Wurtzel's book depicts a powerful insight into the chaotic state of depression so many people find themselves in. The beauty of the book does not lie in its literary grandeur or its potential to become a classic (I am not confident that it has either hence 4/5 stars); but in the priceless ability it has to speak personally to the reader. It has a nack for exploiting the gritty, tangled truth that is so difficult to pin-point. A tangible account which is an absolutely essential read for anyone trapped in the termoil of depression (or one involved with someone who is). The virile images the author indulges in are striking and at times grotesque, illustrating with horrific honesty the reality of an ellusive sickness. It will help you understand the logic of the depressed mind!

To give credit where credit is due, Elizabeth Wurtzel can write amazing stuff. This book starts out very strongly, painting an honest and vivid picture of herself as a 12 year old girl sufferig from depression. Her writing feels so honest and the way she uses words to put forward her message is just amazing.
Or at least, it is at first, anyway. The problem is that this book is way too repetitive. Its always "my depression this" and "my depression that", whilst telling the reader bland everyday teenage stuff like how her first boyfriend dumped her or how she and her college friend fell out, as if we didn't already feel sorry enough for her.
I am a little frustrated. What started out (to me at least) as an incredible novel due to her style and honesty, degenerated into a mish-mash of uninteresting stories that served as nothing more than backdrops for her to wallow in self-pity. I really tried to like this more - to like it as much as I did when I first started it, but I couldn't even finish it, simply because I felt like I was reading the same thing over and over.
Aparently, this is her first novel, so I will try some of her later work to see that her writing isn't wasted. It certainly isn't that can't write, its simpy that she needs something to write about. Her experience with depression is certainly something which I would want to read about, if only out of morbid curiosity, but it needs to be taken from different angles - in other words, not just an angle that deals with nothing other than repetitive self pity.

A powerful book filled with the truth behind living with a mind altering drug to deal with depression/anxiety vs. learning to deal with "life". The auther is creative, sharp witted, and a really good writer. She stays to her point and really allows you, the reader, to join her in this endless up and down journey to prozac or not to prozac. Her struggled becomes so real and her honesty so inviting that you really feel you know her. This is truly a great book to read whether you have faced depression, know someone who has dealt with depression or just want to understand what life with prozac can be like. I leant a copy to a friend many years ago who was forced to go on prozac at a young age by her parents. When I met her she was a young adult battling life and trying to kick the prozac. She felt she couldn't be a good person unless on this drug and she felt very alone. She said the book gave her hope, keeped her company, and helped her find the inspiration she needed to kick prozac.

Since everyone comes here after they have read the books, I will say a few words to them last. If you haven't read it, its definitely worth the read, even though it's not a glamorous or an enjoyable one in the traditional sense. That wasn't the point when Elizabeth wrote it, and she says so in the epilogue, and I agree with her. Remember that she is 10, 12, and 13, when she is writing at the beginning, and this in itself is horrifying.

Taking one's time getting through this book is essential, since different feeling pop up if you keep reading it straight through that are irritating and annoying. But this is essential to the main effect of this book. If you put the book down, and pick it up later, empathy will return. There is a lot of repetition in this book, but like I said, (ha, ha), this is really what gives it its power when you finish it. That's what depression is like. A very important book. For those who already read it and don't like it for its honesty you either get it or you don't.

Elizabeth Wurtzel's memoir of her struggle with depression is poignant and true-to-life. Her description of the effort it takes to do something as simple as getting out of the bed in the morning will be familiar to anyone who has suffered from depression. Also accurate is Elizabeth's constant running away from her problems. Her trip to England and the difficulties she encounters there is a prime example of this running.
Something that I had hoped would be included in this book is more sociological information. The book is called "Prozac Nation", and yet Wurtzel includes very little information about her generation and the depression-sufferers among them. In fact, the book doesn't even mention Prozac until the very end.

The title of this book is very misleading. Prozac Nation is not about an epidemic, nor is it about Prozac. It is an intensely personal look at one woman's struggle with crippling depression in the 1980's, before Prozac hit the nation. These were the days when anti-depressants had food interactions and could cause death in careless users, so there was no magic pill to deliver to the depressed. Prozac literally saved this woman's life (she was one of the first people to take it during the trails), and then it became the drug of the masses, the subject of jokes and skits. Wurtzel presents the reader with a heart-wrenching, revealing, honest, and eye-opening account of a very intelligent and accomplished woman who was afflicted with depression.

Over the years, many readers have commented that Wurtzel is a whiny narrator. She is indeed. Depressed people are whiny and inherently unlikable, and it comes across in the narrative. They are self-obsessed and irritating to be around. Throughout the book, her friends and peers criticize Wurtzel for her self-absorption. She faces it head-on. This is an important book for anyone who loves someone who is depressed, because Wurtzel makes the reader feel what it is like to be inside her head. It might also encourage someone who is struggling on their own to seek help.

Wurtzel's book is full of insights about topics like insurance coverage (and how it doesn't kick in until a catastrophe), the theory that high-achieving artists and people are more likely to be afflicted with mental illness, the search for a "reason" to be depressed instead of accepting it as a fact of life, self-isolation, her personal relationship with reckless sex and drug use, and more. She has written an important memoir about a personal struggle with depression, and it deserves a place on the historical record.

Luckily, I have not been one of those whose suffered from depression or have had the need to use the many drugs that seem so common today: Prozac, St. John's Wort, Zoloft Xanax, and Paxil etc. This book provides insight by the author whose been there. I read this book because I am curious as to why so many of these disorders are more prevelant among our population today in America. The writer delved into this. In the 60s there were not nearly as many these cases (including eating disorders like bulimia and anorexia nervosa.) Were these disorders not diagnosed? Were those affected less willing to come forward? I believe so. But are these problems for many, another thing that is vogue today? Is running to the Doctor for a Prozac prescription the answer, like Chicken-soup for the soul books, and Yoga at the health club. Our we a nation of neurotics? I am aware of how depression is a disease and chemical inbalances make it biological as other disorders, and is dreadful for those who deal with it. At the same tine we have a quality of life unequaled by most of the world, yet we are a people with "issues." This is a good book that can provide information to those who want it.

If you arent depressed or know anyone who's depressed-why would you be reading this at all? If you have suffered from depression in your life, the author will seem like an old friend. I hated for this book to end. She became like a new friend to me. Her life & experiences are alot crazier than mine so I found her courage & strength to carry on very inspiring. She is a heroin because she gives words & feeling to the darkness rather than running from it which carries her through.(A very healing process) Too much of society fears dark, sad feelings & try to escape them anyway they can. Her honesty alone is pure beauty! A very hip,honest & at times humorus book! I only wish I knew where the author is today in her life. I hope there will be a second book.

I find her books fascinating and informative. Anyone who has struggled with depression will relate to her story, as well as artists or writers coping with everyday reality. Every one of her books is a page-turner that I cannot put down until I have read it front to back. Very well thought out, and chock full of cultural references, like most of her memoirs.

And I came to that conclusion without even finishing the book. I have suffered depression as have some of my loved ones and I cannot say that this woman's experience is helpful to anyone-either those trying to cope or those supporting sufferers of depression. Like a lot of other reviews, I found her tone whiny and resentful and selfish. She takes some inordinate degree of pride in her pain as if no one has ever suffered to the extent that she has. It is so obvious that she stays depressed for one, simple reason-she wants to. I see it as a willful, deliberate choice on her part. She mocks others who suffer with this book and I had to stop reading it because of that. I have no need to waste my time reading the story of a woman who wants to punish those around her and get off on it. She's got some Princess complex waiting to be rescued but still wanting to punish those who would rescue her. Someone else said it here in these reviews and I agree: a personality disorder sounds a bit more appropriate for this woman.

Wurtzel's book inspires either volumes of text on how the reader can relate to her life's struggle, on how they also practically severed all ties with family/friends when in the midst of depression or it completely irritates the reader into thinking she's merely taking a mental condition, putting a pop culture label on it and making it *cool* for throngs of teen angst followers.
I believe that Wurtzel's book is well-written and the kind of book you need to take in large, constant doses. She's kind to no one in her memoir, least of all herself and anyone who has suffered from her malady knows that nothing is ever enough. Wurtzel shows you each pain-staking step, every major mistake and turns phrases with the punch of Dorothy Parker that put you a step behind her.

One of my favorites. Over multiple readings, it has never lost the depth, humor, self-awareness, or honesty. Wurtzel's other books are equally good too, (except for that terrible yellow pamphlet book on advice for commonsense women) but this is the most heart-wrenching.
A friend of mine read Prozac Nation once, and complained about how the order was mismatched. "It didn't seem organized," he bemoaned. I wholeheartedly disagree. It flows as naturally as can be. Behind the naturalness is a great deal of craft. When I first picked it up at age 16, I felt it might be above me- and I was reading Friedrich Niezsche at 14. But it was worth picking up. It changed my perspective. When I read it two years later, I saw it in a different light. This book ages well over time because it turns into a kaleidascope with its multi-faceted glow shifting as time passes. I feel as if Wurtzel is a prodigy of writing, and writing prodigies are hard to come by considering how well-read the general public is- and how much writing and reading they teach in college these days. (Most liberal arts colleges force you to write a couple papers a week on average!) Wurtzel has a level of self-awareness most people don't believe exists- that's why people mistakenly read her and think she's "soo self centered."
The type of women that I've witnessed gravitate to this book the most were girls who were incredibly honest with themselves. If you are into politics, being popular, and lying to yourself about things, stay away- because you won't "get it." By that I mean that you will hate her and her promo book. You won't understand why she of all clowns made it.
Only one issue- I don't like this cover as much as the orginal. That original picture of Wurtzel made me tremble. Sidenote- The movie is okay, but did not live up to hype. Ricci is good, but it lacks Wurtzel's sense of humor...(or any sense of humor.) Wurtzel herself admitted that "it sucks."

Wurtzel's experiences with mental illness make for entertaining reading. The woman has a penchant for raging, out-of-control, public spectacles that make Courtney Love seem shy and demure in comparison. But speaking as someone who suffers from depression, I think that Wurtzel may be afflicted with something closer to bipolar disorder. Depressed people tend to be quiet and withdrawn, but Wurtzel describes frequent binges of sex, drugs, creative output and impulsive behavior that are typical of mania, not depression. And in the afterward, she *complains* about how common a drug Prozac has become! She seems threatened by the possibility that the uniqueness and severity of her illness are being co-opted by all the Johnny-come-latelies. Don't worry, Elizabeth, we all know you're a real kook.

This book is both disturbing and enlightening. After watching the movie I was inspired to read this book to see how closely they matched. They are much different! The author does a better job of describing the depth of her depression and despair. She had so many mental health and addiction issues to contend with. I'm very surprised she made it out of college alive. (She nearly didn't.) The memoir is about the author's struggles (life - long) with mental illness and addiction. The symptoms worsened when she left to attend Harvard with the goal of becoming a writer. She has some initial successes and then quickly falls into a cycle of self-destructive behavior. This story really enlightened me about the true depths of major depression. A great book for anyone interested in mental health, psychology, addiction, and depression issues.

Elizabeth Wurtzel's memoir of depression has been described as self-indulgent. I think people are missing the point. Wurtzel describes quite clearly how depression is about *you*. It's about looking out for number one, being so weighed down by that black cloud that it's impossible to care about anyone else. She describes feeling guilty for being depressed, pointing out that she can't blame her family life or circumstances, not knowing who or what or why is making her feel that way. Her helplessness and frustration and acute self-hatred are tangible in these pages. You know exactly how she feels, and you understand her. That's the beauty of this book, and that is why it's so utterly compelling.

As someone who suffers from clinical depression I could easily relate to nearly everything she said to describe her feelings. But the book was sooooo drawn out. Elizabeth tends to ramble. So be prepared to get bored every once in awhile. Is it worth reading? yes but just remember not all depressive's are like her. We don't all break down in bookstores in London and talk about suicide so frequently but NEVER attempt to do it until we're about to get better. She gives a whiny aspect to her writing that I never expected even though I'd heard that's what her writing sounded like. She almost seems desperate to get worse instead of better. And as a depressed person i know that's not true. That's how she comes off though. So be prepared for some crazy stuff.

Wurtzel sure spoke to me in this memoir, not because I, personally, suffer from depression (at least not of this magnitude) but because, underneath all that depression she is a regular college kid trying to make it in the big, bad world. Out of all the memoirs concerning mental illness that my brain has consumed, this is the only one that doesn't contain one iota of self-pity. And yet, it is informative and illuminating. I don't think I've connected with somebody (especially someone I've never met) so much in years. A good, smart excursion into the harrowing world of depression. Oh yeah, and I'm not being coy... but this is not exactly a work for the emotionally unstable.

I just got around to reading "Prozac Nation," four years after it came out. I had no idea it would be so good. Initially, I was annoyed by all the talk surrounding it: Harvard girl gone mad. Elizabeth Wurtzel is a bold, brave, fine writer. She tells her story in compelling prose, paints a distinct picture of her surroundings outside and inside her brain. Her travels through depression are told in a clear manner, allowing insight into a disease I knew nothing about, except that it existed. Sometimes the details are a little too relentless, but on the whole, this is a riveting read, a fascinating story told by an excellent writer.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is suffering from depression or knows anyone who has. I thought that it really gave a clear picture of how someone who is depressed is feeling. Although I could not personally relate to Elizabeth Wurtzel, I knew someone close to me who was diagnosed with major depression and it is a difficult disease to understand if you have never suffered from it. I praise Elizabeth for having the courage to write about and share her painful experience with us. I also appreciated the authors note at the end of the book which gave some insight into depression and how it relates to popular culture.

I have never suffered huge bouts depression, so I may be a little unfair when saying that the author of this novel presents the apparantly everyday occurance in a very tedious manner.
This book has merit, and at times it immensly striking and hugely saddening, but really, the self absorbed nature of the writer bored me almost to the point where I put the book down in disgust, only to pick it up again, simply because leaving a book unfinished leaves me with my own feelings of incompletion.
I am not a prude, but depression does not justify holding a party for the loss of your virginity, or asking people not to pick on you, 'because you've just had a miscarriage'. A miscarriage from a pregnancy you neither knew about, and lets face it, would be unlikely to follow through with, and child you could not possibly care for.
Depression, or being the first woman on Prozac, does not justify writing a repetitive self indulgent tedious book about the hardships of depression (which apparantly so many experience for themselves) nor does it give you the right to contridict the entire book's apparant message and claim that any 'ole depressive shouldn't be given prozac, a drug supposedly reserved for the truly depressed. The others should grin and bear it, the very thing you whinged about having to do it for appoximately 200 pages too much.

I finished reading Prozac Nation a few days ago, and Elizabeth's words are still echoing in my head. She suffered for so many years, until people finally began to take her disease seriously. It angers me how the world used to be (and still is) so quick to dismiss depression as just some passing emotion. IT'S NOT. This is a serious illness, and while I don't favor the drugs in the market for it, they really have seemed to help the author, quite literally saving her life. Elizabeth's candid, no-holds-barred memoir really spoke to me, showing me the darker side of suicide, and I just wanted to reach out to her, giver her a hug, and tell her that I knew exactly how she felt. This book should be read by anyone trying to gain a deeper understanding of depression, and ESPECIALLY if they suffer from it as well.

In `Prozac Nation' Elizabeth Wurtzel charts her descent from a childhood which on the surface at least seemed to be full of promise, to her on-going battle against depression and her struggle for the `normality' of an adult life without pills. The book takes us from Wurtzel's early dysfunctional family life and first suicide attempt at the age of twelve, to her time writing for the New Yorker. Wurtzel steers her way through years of alternating depression and mania, all of which eventually leads to her being one of the first people to be prescribed the now ubiquitous Prozac.
Although the blurb on the ... UK paperback copy claims the work to be `completely compelling', the two word which most readily spring to mind are in fact `repetitive' and `irritating'. However, as Wurtzel herself states, if the book does inspire anger and annoyance, then she's succeeded in getting across to the reader some of the problems of dealing with a depressive. Nevertheless, I couldn't help wondering what real benefit depressives and their families would take away from the book.
Furthermore, whilst `Prozac Nation' is often tagged with the label `controversial' this is rather misleading. The book is only controversial if you have either no experience of depression yourself or have no contact with anybody who suffers from the illness. Perhaps the true nature of the controversy lies in the rejection of the American consumer dream since Wurtzel herself says, `happiness is not about stuff'.
Overall, I found the most rewarding sections of the book to be the epilogue and the afterword ... Indeed, I found these to be the saving grace of the book. Here Wurtzel stops whining and becomes instantly more readable, interesting and intelligent. Her examination of the birth of a `Prozac Nation' and the effect of the mainstreaming of the `culture of depression' into society are thoughtful. Furthermore, the argument that the media circus which surrounds Prozac has trivialised depression and deterred it use by the people it really could benefit is apt. Also the image of Prozac as the ultimate `Happy Pill' is questioned; Wurtzel herself still needs a cocktail of prescribed drugs alongside Prozac to maintain her balancing act.
Whilst I fail to see what real help and support `Prozac Nation' can offer to sufferers and their families it does, however achieve what Wurtzel states she intended to do: it is a personal book about depression, which is written `like rock `n' roll'.
All quotes taken from, Elizabeth Wurtzel, Prozac Nation, Young and Depressed in America, a Memoir ...

"Prozac Nation," Elizabeth Wurtzel's 1994 best selling autobiography of her torturous struggle (much of it while she was studying at Harvard) with severe and refractory depression is often disturbing, frequently oddly amusing, and a must read. The author is more than a gifted storyteller with a unique style. Her talent at fusing wit, insight, despair, hope, wonder and cynicism establishes her as a master of a complex narrative domain (and that's coming from someone who studied at Rutgers).
Clearly, her story has larger, deeper and more rhythmic themes flowing within its pages. It often reads like a demanding score of music, making one sweat like a dervish dancing feverishly. This is not to suggest that "Prozac Nation" should be qualified as another story of depression dedicated to the search, any search, for answers, any answers, for the sake of asking, and not necessarily discovering. The beauty of Wurtzel's style is her unabashed willingness to say and realize anything, the naked and disconcerting nature notwithstanding.
However, it's not enough to be naked and disconcerting within a vacuum; and the rawness is not for shock effect. Rawness is the very nature, quality and essence of the experience of deep depression. All of these emotions and touchstones are the byproduct's of her exceptionally well-considered examination of the social ramifications (especially for Generation X'ers) of a culture that invites, and even enjoys the twisted fancy marketing schemes that drive the profitability and often specious use of Prozac (to name one drug of many).
Essentially, Ms. Wurtzel argues that such an environment threatens to "trivialize," both a serious drug, and a serious illness. In her Epilogue, she emotionally pleads that "...after years of trying to get people to take depression seriously...now it has gone beyond the point of recognition as a real problem to become something that appears totally trivial (302)."
She further pleads that "[i]n the world that we live in, randomness does rule. And this lack of order is a debilitating, destabilizing thing (301)." Concurrently, Wurtzel makes it inherently clear that the inappropriate use of pharmacology as a means with which to fill the gaping gaps and unwholesome holes that exist in each of our lives is tenuous and ill conceived at best. The ghost of Kurt Cobaine, and others like him, are evoked as frightful reminders.
"That is all I want in life: for this pain to seem purposeful," she cries (44). Thus we return to where we began. Part of Wurtzel's magic is the way we are forced to confront her willingness to point out the naked truth, even though (she'd probably say) it almost always sucks; and the truth here is read this book at least twice, take a hot bath, watch "A Beautiful Mind" on DVD, fight to maintain empathy for mental illness, and don't fall prey to the mindless trivialization that removes your fundamental right to participate in the course of your medical care and places it in the hands of a doctor with a pad and a Zoloft-pen and three minutes to spare.

"Prozac Nation," Elizabeth Wurtzel's 1994 best selling autobiography of her torturous struggle (much of it while she was studying at Harvard) with severe and refractory depression is often disturbing, frequently oddly amusing, and a must read. The author is more than a gifted storyteller with a unique style. Her talent at fusing wit, insight, despair, hope, wonder and cynicism establishes her as a master of a complex narrative domain (and that's coming from someone who studied at Rutgers).
Clearly, her story has larger, deeper and more rhythmic themes flowing within its pages. It often reads like a demanding score of music, making one sweat like a dervish dancing feverishly. This is not to suggest that "Prozac Nation" should be qualified as another story of depression dedicated to the search, any search, for answers, any answers, for the sake of asking, and not necessarily discovering. The beauty of Wurtzel's style is her unabashed willingness to say and realize anything, the naked and disconcerting nature notwithstanding.
However, it's not enough to be naked and disconcerting within a vacuum; and the rawness is not for shock effect. Rawness is the very nature, quality and essence of the experience of deep depression. All of these emotions and touchstones are the byproduct's of her exceptionally well-considered examination of the social ramifications (especially for Generation X'ers) of a culture that invites, and even enjoys the twisted fancy marketing schemes that drive the profitability and often specious use of Prozac (to name one drug of many).
Essentially, Ms. Wurtzel argues that such an environment threatens to "trivialize," both a serious drug, and a serious illness. In her Epilogue, she emotionally pleads that "...after years of trying to get people to take depression seriously...now it has gone beyond the point of recognition as a real problem to become something that appears totally trivial (302)."
She further pleads that "[i]n the world that we live in, randomness does rule. And this lack of order is a debilitating, destabilizing thing (301)." Concurrently, Wurtzel makes it inherently clear that the inappropriate use of pharmacology as a means with which to fill the gaping gaps and unwholesome holes that exist in each of our lives is tenuous and ill conceived at best. The ghost of Kurt Cobaine, and others like him, are evoked as frightful reminders.
"That is all I want in life: for this pain to seem purposeful," she cries (44). Thus we return to where we began. Part of Wurtzel's magic is the way we are forced to confront her willingness to point out the naked truth, even though (she'd probably say) it almost always sucks; and the truth here is read this book at least twice, take a hot bath, watch "A Beautiful Mind" on DVD, fight to maintain empathy for mental illness, and don't fall prey to the mindless trivialization that removes your fundamental right to participate in the course of your medical care and places it in the hands of a doctor with a pad and a Zoloft-pen and three minutes to spare.

Now, I want to preface this by saying that unless you can personally relate to Elizabeth Wurtzel's problems, you probably won't like or understand this book. Critics often say she is narcissistic; people claim she is nothing more than an egotistical, bratty girl trapped in the body of an intelligent adult. However, the majority of these people have never suffered from severe depression. I have. So take it from me when I say that this is an EXCELLENT honest and witty portrayal of depression. It has gotten me through A LOT of my own problems. But I am warning you, that if you cannot personally relate, you may think she just likes to hear herself talk, or, I should say, see herself write. Critics sometimes give the book bad reviews and I think that's because so few people understand the true notion of depression. It is a VERY self-centering disease. You're literally trapped inside yourself; you cannot break free from your own mental prison in order to engage in normal society. Even when you ARE seemingly engaging, you're really not. Few people understand that. If you are one of those people who doesn't understand depression, who says that clinically depressed people should just "buck up and get over it", I wouldn't suggest reading the book, because you probably won't like it. But if you're not like that then give it a chance. It's really very good.

Prozac Nation is a memoir about the author's life going through depression. It starts of early with her and continues on until college. At first she knows something is up, but depression never came to mind. As time goes on, she realizes her problem and goes through the struggle of being someone else, a deppression patient. Life goes on for her and this book has a great climax to it. I haven't read the first book by this author, but reading this book makes me want to.
Any teen or adult should pick up this book, it's very interesting and not to medical. It flows through and makes you want to read more and more. You'll be sad that it ended! Well, have fun reading.

I was really impressed by Wurtzel's memoir. It was initially recommended to me at a support group meeting by a friend who said, "I read this, and I felt like I was reading about you!" Given this interesting endorsement, I felt compelled to check it out. I bought it on impulse later that week, and immediately saw what my friend had seen. This work depicted the life of a severely depressed youngish person in America; this and the incidental ( and somewhat eerie) similarities between myself and the author made it too difficult for me to finish. Later on, I went back and completely the novel, and I was struck again by the unflinching, wrenching realness of the book.
Depression is not pretty. It is dark, bleak, tedious, irrational, selfish, self involved, angry, bitter, and sad. In its implaccable committment to realism, this memoir does not make any attempt to gloss over the realities of severe depression to make it more readable or inviting. This makes it speak to the heart of anyone who has ever been at this bleak point, or to anyone who has ever seen someone there, or who merely wants to understand. I don't think that the average healthy well adjusted person will have the same reaction, and I can easily people being turned off by the incessant darkness. However, I think it is important to note that these negative aspects are a very true representation of the illness, not a symptom of whininess on the narrator's part.
Ultimately, this book is so incredibly clearly rendered and candid that I have to recommend it. Wurtzel has taken the heretofore inexpressible realities of depression and put them into fascinating words.

Wurtzel can string a sentence together, but she cannot tell a story. Wurtzel's memoir of her own depression rambles so much that I had to force myself to finish half of it.
It's hard to argue with a depressive. I know, I battled depression for many years, mostly in high school. No matter how smart, attractive and funny they may be, they just don't see it. However, I tired of the excuses when they came out of me, and I tired of them even quicker from Wurtzel.
Wurtzel also launches into pointless, irrelevant tangents at random. I found it very hard to sympathize with her. Nothing she had to say was any more interesting than watching a dead houseplant. That is all I can bring myself to say about this one. ...

I read this novel during my worst period of depression when I was diagnosed and started taking Prozac. I was relieved to know that I wasn't alone in my loneliness and fright. Elizabeth Wurtzel had been there. Just seeing what I was going through in someone's autobiography took away some of my fright. I loved this novel and recommend it to young college girls suffering from depression especially if they go to school in Cambridge! The war on depression can be won especially with a great psychiatrist, medication, and a willingness to get better.

C. Adler
First described to me as "a very difficult book to read, tough stuff," I would have to say that Prozac Nation by Elizabeth Wurtzel lives up to that standard. In her memoir Wurtzel takes the reader through her own battle with depression. Starting from when she was young and "full of promise" as she says, after her first overdose on allergy medicine at a summer camp at age 11, her struggle begins.
Wurtzel writes her story using mostly past tense, occasional present tense, but also often taking the time to comment as a two-headed narrator. By using italics she goes in to more specific narration about the scene that just took placed and even sometimes giving details about future events. For example, after getting off the phone with her psychiatrist after discussing the failed attempt of one drug, Wurtzel launches into her commentary.

Dr. Sterling knew that somewhere in my personality there was a giggly girl who just wanted to have fun, and she thought that it was important that I be allowed to express that aspect of myself...Her goal was to see to it that I got the kind of care and treatment that I would have at a psychiatric hospital without actually being placed in such complete confinement. It is only because of her determination and dedication that I survived that year without actually being committed, and it is only because of her that I am alive today at all (237).

After such a scene not only is the reader provided with more of Elizabeth's internal thoughts about what just transpired, but it confirms our hope that everything might actually work out well. We know that she survives, not only because she wrote a book about it, but also it is clear as her extraordinary struggles continue throughout the year, that Dr. Sterling remains a constant presence and keeps her alive.
Prozac Nation is such an intense book because of the honesty with which Wurtzel describes her struggle with depression. Many of the descriptions easily evoked empathy in me, as I'm sure it would in any reader. Her fear and obsession with death constantly appear; in one description she speaks of her fear of walking on fallen leaves because the crunching noise reminds her of a head cracking open. Wurtzel writes, "I would get really scared, scared that it would happen and even more frightened that it wouldn't, that a protracted life of misery and wanting to die would go on and on. And I'd run all the way home, running for cover" (111). To an unaffected person, stepping on leaves is simple, maybe even enjoyable, but to severely depressed Elizabeth Wurtzel it causes her to become paranoid and freak out, both wanting to avoid death and fall into it at the same time.
This paradox of wanting to live and die at simultaneously is one of the underlying problems that Wurtzel faces and towards the end of the book it becomes a bit repetitive as each struggle ends with the same failure, only to open up a new scheme that pushes her further into depression. What kept the memoir interesting is the honesty and shamelessness with which she tells her story.
The title of the book is a bit misleading because Wurtzel does not begin to take Prozac until towards the end of the memoir. Also, the only time she connects Prozac to the Nation is in the epilogue. However, overall this book was a very interesting and compelling read of her personal struggle and opened me up to the intense suffering of depression.

When I originally attempted to read this book over a year ago, I had to put it down after the first 3 chapters; it was simply too whiny and it put me in a bad mood. For some reason, I decided to give it another try recently. Unfortunately it was as bad as I remembered, and then some. Admittedly, I didn't get past chapter 5 this time, but that was far enough! I get that the author was depressed. Depression is such a common issue in today's world, and I'm sure anyone that's had it can relate to how terrible it is. However being depressed is no excuse to treat everyone around you like dirt. And the author's dramatic and selfish antics get really old, really quick. I think this excerpt is when I began to dislike her:
"They will have to do more than they ever thought they could if they want me to stay alive. They have no idea how much energy and exasperation I am willing to suck out of them until I feel better. I will drain them and drown them until they know how little of me there is left even after I've taken everything and they've got to give me because I hate them for not knowing."
It's like she was delighting in using people. I don't want people like that in my life, so why would I waste my leisure time reading about a person like this?
I really can't imagine why anyone would want to make a movie based on this either. I will be skipping that as well!!

A previous poster mentioned that if you cannot relate to Wurtzel that you will not enjoy the book. I agree with this only to an extent. I have by no means suffered severe depression (though I'd say that I've experienced a certain amount of non-severe depression), but I can most certainly relate to being a college girl with a "bright future," with next to nothing to be happy about. Whereas I do believe she wrote this book as a memior, and not a universal piece meant to speak to the world, I think she points out many aspects of society that lead to such a large-scale rate of depression in the US and the world. I'm happy there is someone out there that speaks to the "average achieving female." People believe that because a girl is not poor, or fat, or ugly, or gay (etc, etc, etc) that there are no "reasons" for her to be depressed. I think it is beautiful that Wurtzel was able to display depression for what it really is. It is contextual and inhibiting. It is a epidemic that is co-created by the societal attitudes and expectations infiltrating our own ideas of what it means to live. She makes no attempts at pleasing everyone, and writes straight from the heart-- as she said, like rock and roll. She gets a 5 from me.

In reading "Prozac Nation..." I had remembered the article that had pointed me towards it. It was a whole article describing depression and how some people battled it...and some got beaten into the ground by it. This has truly been the one book that has captured the essence of depression and the outcomes of its wake. At an early time, Wurtzel's work would have been compared to Kate Chopin's "The Awakening" with Edna Pontellier and the devestating, yet completely abstract, suicide at the end. Yet now, Wurtzel's work defines that the mass of people who are depressed are in this turmoil that is ruining their lives. With the after effects of prozac or any other antidepressant drug is the emptiness that envelopes Wurtzel in her memoir. The dizzying strength that which she explains every moment makes "Prozac Nation..." truly special because it doesn't just say how one feels, it shows it by nearly taking the reader on a rollercoaster of complete depression that just strikes true. Usually the reader would be of great enjoyment when they themselves had suffered or are suffering depression. The book brings great hope and a note of expression that brings anyone feelings of graditude that their lives are much more simple and have less pain than others. It shows that everyone is different, and while one can seem a bit crazy...they can't really be blamed for it, it is just natural. This book is a must read for those who feel that their life is not well adjusted and going to shambles. If someone ever does feel alone, this book is a great companion towards that life of rejuvination.

Elizabeth Wurtzel's Prozac Nation is amazing. It really helped me understand some of the people in my life who suffer from depression. Perhaps her greatest writing comes in the afterword, where she examines the effect of Prozac on America and American culture. She suffered for so long with depression that she felt as though she had nowhere to turn. She wanted to kill herself because she couldn't handle being depressed without knowing the cause. By the end of this book, the reader feels as though they are related to Elizabeth - perhaps like an older sister, wanting to guide her through the pain. Through the anecdotes she tells you both want to hug her (to tell her things will be okay) and strangle her when you read of some of the things she did. In the end, this book picks up on a high note and leaves the reader feeling ironically upbeat after reading of her depression.

After reading the memoir Prozac Nation, I was left feeling a much more complex understanding for depression, which has been on ongoing struggle for Elizabeth Wurtzel throughout her life. Wurtzel wrote the book almost as a two-part biography, but with one main point - to figure out how she could escape from depression and to find the reason for her sadness, "That is all I want in life: for this pain to seem purposeful"(50.) The first part highlighted the life of Wurtzel from birth to her current years describing birthdays and people and monumental experiences. The second part reached beyond the surface of the events described and how her depression affected each one.
What she came to conclude was that one of the main factors shaping her depression was the divorce of her parents. Not only did her parents separate but also, her dad pretty much disappeared from her life as a positive figure, as he struggled with depression as well. He paid a bare minimum for her child support, refused to pay for psychologist visits, visited her minimally, but worst of all, he attempted to get Wurtzel to side with him over her mother, causing her a huge amount of grief and confusion as she stated, "What made my life different from the parable is that both of my parents did have claims. And in order to remain whole, I needed both of them, but that seemed not to be an option. Something inside me was not just depressed but dividing, cracking, splintering, pulling me back and forth between my two parents, and occasionally I wished I could walk through a picture window and have the sharp, broken shards slash me to ribbons so I would finally look like I felt"(75.)
To me, the strangest experiences were when Wurtzel would openly talk about her feelings of such hopelessness to her peers. One example of this is when she was thirteen and at camp as she listened to her Bruce Springsteen cassette and compared herself to his song "For You," as she explained that "the song is about a girl just like me who kills herself." She continues by telling Paris to "imagine only knowing that the sun is shining because you feel the ache of its awful heat and not because you know the joy of its light. Imagine being always in the dark" (61.) Throughout this memoir, Wurtzel was able to portray living in a world without light.

Wurtzel sure spoke to me in this memoir, not because I, personally, suffer from depression (at least not of this magnitude) but because, underneath all that depression she is a regular college kid trying to make it in the big, bad world. Out of all the memoirs concerning mental illness that my brain has consumed, this is the only one that doesn't contain one iota of self-pity. And yet, it is informative and illuminating. I don't think I've connected with somebody (especially someone I've never met) so much in years. A good, smart excursion into the harrowing world of depression. Oh yeah, and I'm not being coy... but this is not exactly a work for the emotionally unstable.

As a psychotherapist and someone who has experienced depression I would just like to advise anyone who is experiencing depression to tread carefully where this book is concerned. It could be particulary negative to anyone who is depressed and unaware of what they suffering or for those who have not yet
sought professional advice but are considering it. There is a time and a place to read such a book and some might benefit from it at the right time. However, when energy is low, when each and every day and every task is a battle - leave it for another time.

I finished this book in one sitting--could not tear myself away from Wurtzel's stories about her travels into the abyss of depression. Good book for someone who has either experienced depression or needs to gain greater insight into the nature of depression. However, the title is somewhat inaccurate considering that Prozac is not even discussed until the last few chapters--so if the reader is looking for a book about Prozac/or an individual accounting of the effects of Prozac try another book. This book is about Wurtzel herself and her life in dealing with depression.

I just finished reading this book and felt a pressing and overwhelming need to express how thankful I am for having read it. Elizabeth Wurtzel painted a completely pure portrayal of herself and her struggles with depression. While the pages were filled with endless internal monologues that some reviewers commented to be whiny and ranting, it was completely essential to understanding the twisted, irrational and often selfish thoughts that plague the minds of the depressed.

I agree that if you cannot relate to depression, it would be easy to dismiss this book and its validity immediately, but I urge you not to!! If you can have a little patience with Wurtzel, open your mind to the possibility that depression is a real disease, and take a second to get into the distorted mind of one of its sufferers, you will walk away with a better understanding for those who struggle with it.

One last point...I would like to thank Wurtzel for discussing how scary it is to go on anti-depressants. Depression becomes so engraved into who you think you are that it is scary to leave it behind. While the darkness of depression is not pleasant, it's familiar. It's terrifying to leave the comfort of the familiar behind. It can feel like you're leaving yourself behind, it can feel dishonest and fake, and it can feel like you failed by your own means and are resorting to chemicals. But if anti-depressants are your last option, don't be afraid. You'll soon realize that depression is like any other disease - it can't always be beat with a strong will. Take the help if you need it - you'll finally uncover your true, undistorted self. I know I did.

Gutsy and confronting, yeah, but I hated it. Elizabeth Wurtzel revealed herself as stuck in depression but also whiny, attention-seeking and spoilt. This makes it a very unenjoyable read. Her mother gets assaulted and her immediate thought is something like I can't believe this is happening to me! And sure, taking a minor overdose is worrying, but don't call it a suicide attempt if you know it's not going to kill you. She does admit that she doesn't know how to be a grown-up and that was how I saw it too: it was hard for me to feel for her or her depression when she revealed herself in an unsympathetic way.

A good writer makes you feel things, good or bad, sure. But I read on WikiP that after her second book got poor reviews she became a drug addict ... so she could write another book about how hard things are. This gets little sympathy from me, which is a shame because these are topics we all need to be aware of and emotionally intouch with. 2 stars.

I was diagnosed even later in life than Elizabeth was. For the 11+ years I've been on medication I have waffled about my diagnoses. Over that time I have stuck with treatment, abandoned treatment, and considered other causes that my illness stemmed from. I am lucky to have landed on my feet with a life and I can thank doctors, medicine, therapists, and my own will to succeed. I really needed to read this at a time in my life where I am finally accepting the fact that my illness is chronic, and I will need to stand guard and be in treatment the rest of my life.

One thing I noticed is that Elizabeth objectively considered how things must have looked from the outside. She even mentioned that it must have been annoying to look at her suffer for no reason when there were others who have "Real" reasons to suffer. She was ashamed to be depressed, and understood how it must appear to the healthy mind.

I base ratings on entertainment value and importance of the subject/ability to cover the important subject. All of this is relative of course. This book covers an important subject - one which I am thoroughly familiar with as a depressed and medicated person. Its not an entertaining subject. When you are completely sick of depression, being depressed etc. you are totally bored with yourself and throughly sick of it and of life. This book expresses that very well. It expresses the crazy need for relief from that state. But I think many books have already covered it. I wondered if the author would have anything new to say - she doesn't. How many times will somebody want to write a book and express the thoughts and feelings we all have? Not too many more I hope.

Elizabeth Wurtzel does a very good (but not great) job of relating her experiences with depression. Along the way, she touches on some very interesting facts ("500,000 heroin junkies can't be wrong" hehe!) not to mention some very dark humor. The bad part of this book is that the end plays more like a Prozac ad than something of substance. For several pages she rambles on about how she was saved by Prozac and about how far ahead of other anti-depressants it is and exactly how it works. Now all that needs to come is the sequel where she's addicted to them and is affraid to get off. Trust me: I would know.

Well Lizzie: Wonder what you would have done just a mere 60 years ago, when the nation had not been saved by WWII. What would you have done before the transcontinal RR was built, and if you wanted to get to San Francisco, one walked or if rich, rode on a horse or mule? The problem with today's younger generations is that they have no concept of history and what it took to stay alive, just a few years ago. This not the Age of Aqurius, but rather, The Age of Whine. The cult of someone did to me and it is not my fault, is in accendance. Don't waste time on this one!

The memoir, Prozac Nation, by Elizabeth Wurtzel recounts her depressed youth years in heartbreaking detail. In the first paragraph of the first chapter she describes depression by saying that "you won't even notice it coming on, thinking that it is somehow normal, something about getting older, about turning eight or turning twelve or turning fifteen, and then one day you realize that your entire life is just awful, not worth living, a horror and a black blot on the white terrain of human existence. One morning you wake up afraid that you are going to live" (page 22). Those two sentences set the tone for a very depressing book, one that I found hard to continue reading at times because of the severity. But personally having had friends who dealt with depression, it provided me with a lot of insight into how they were really feeling at the time.
I feel the book would have been much more powerful if it was shorter because at times I felt like I was listening to the same things over and over again. But I still felt for her because she was opening up her depressed young self for people to tear apart, and for that she deserves a lot of credit. I found her italicized monologues to be very powerful because I felt like I was inside her brain listening to her every thought, which was sometimes scary considering the suicidal thoughts she shares with the public in this memoir. Overall, Prozac Nation is a very informative read which I benefited from reading because so many more people seem to be dealing with issues of depression.

A common response to this book from people who do not suffer from Clinical Depression is, "So what-get over it". The fact that non-depressive people don't understand that Ms. Wurtzel can't "get over it" is a good example of how depression is misunderstood in America. This book is a beautifully written description of what a Clinically Deppressed person goes through day to day, year to year. Wurtzel has a wonderful grasp of words and sentence structure. She says things in a way that makes you want to listen. Read this book if you want to understand Clinical Depression, or if you just want a good read.

As someone who has experienced the excruciating feelings and craziness of depression (and its close cousin, obsessive-compulsive disorder), I must say that Wurtzel's candid, no-apologies-offered writing hits the nail on the head.
Naming the misery as she does--calling it what it is--takes the edge off the pain, the embarrassment, the feelings of aloneness. Feeling like I'm losing my mind -- literally -- is one of the loneliest, scariest experiences I've ever known. When you've got company, it means a lot; one crazy person doesn't feel quite so isolated when she knows someone else shares that craziness.
If you haven't experienced this degree of depression and anxiety, I'm not sure how well you could really appreciate this book. Continuous references to death and darkness and emptiness begin to grate on your nerves, I imagine. Depression, in my experience, is really all about reality without hope. In this respect, it's a blessing and a curse --a gift because it enables the afflicted to see through life's props and lies with amazing clarity, a curse because it is so weighty and powerful that it shuts out the light and promise that really is present. Wurtzel tells the reality part of it like it is. She doesn't moralize, doesn't worry about offending--she just wants to get it out there on paper, which she does. Sometimes I think this is just what the doctor should order (and some of them do).

Though the beginning was really slow, I liked this book by the time I finished it. I picked it up because I have just started taking Prozac for depression. Wurtzel tells a good story, but I don't think the majority of it is particularly well-written. I do like the points she makes near the end about how the popularity of Prozac relates to early 90s anomie. Also, I was happy to see someone else found solace in Springsteen's "Darkness on the Edge of Town" album!

This is one of my favorite books. I love Wurtzel's story as well as her writing style. However, some of the things that I most love about it are the same things that may turn some people off to it. The novel is a memoire and it covers Wurtzel's long term depression. She writes an entire book about her suffering with this. Naturally, some may find it whiney, self centered, or even pitiful. However, people who can relate to her struggle are most apt to find this work none of those things. If you've dealt with depression and/or self mutilation and/or suicidality, I think you'll be able to really appreciate Wurtzel's openness. I read this book quite awhile ago so I can't recall whether or not she calls herself this but to me(I am a mental health clinician), she is very borderline(having Borderline Personality Disorder). Although the book is not advertised as being a memoire of BPD, I find it to be one. The last thing I want to mention is that I would be careful about recommending this work to someone who is actually in the throws of depression.. It is not the most hopeful work and may not boost anyone out of a depression if theyre already in one.

I disagree strongly with the people who have reviewed this book and said that it is "oh poor me" and a bunch of whining and I also disagree with the people that say it adds to stigma and is too much. It is a memoir and having suffered through depression like the author I felt the book described very well what I have gone through. I never felt the author was being selfish and I think if you think that you don't really know the depths of depression. When she said depression is a selfish disease she did not mean that the way that some people seem to think she did. What she meant was that depression takes over your entire being so that you are so introverted all you can think about is yourself by no fault of your own. I first read this book about 4 years ago and I read it now and then to feel better about what I'm going through and to know that there are other people out there. People who already think that depression is not a chemical imbalance and is one's own fault should not read this book because you have already formed an opinion and you would not understand the book.

I recently reviewed "Prozac Nation" on the store. I gave it two stars the first time and a really harsh review. I winced when I re-read my first review because I realized that I came across as arrogant and I tore up the book needlessly.

The truth is that at points Wurtzel does come across as whiney. But if you read the afterword Wurtzel explains that that was part of her intention. She writes, "I wanted this book to dare to be completely self-indulgent [...] I wanted so very badly to write a book that felt as bad as it feels to feel this bad, to feel depressed". I did find the book repetitive and self-indulgent. More than once I was thinking to myself, "why can't this girl just get it together??? she's smart, why can't she just....". And that's exactly Wurtzel's point: you don't just snap out of depression. Recovering from depression takes time and work and it is damn frustrating. Her book too can be damn frustrating to read at times but that was her goal - she definitely accomplished it.

Writing a memoir about depression is an exceedingly difficult task and I think Wurtzel should be commended for her efforts and her honesty.

Tons of people loved this book and I figure there must be a reason they appreciate it so much. I personally didn't love the book but you might be one of those people who adore it. Give it a try and see for yourself.

Elizabeth Wurtzel clearly felt alone. In her afterward, published one year later (1995) with the soft cover edition, she says, "I had no idea, in spite of all the statistics, just how many people suffered from depression" (353). Prozac Nation gave me an inkling to how isolated depression can make a person feel. I think the reading would have been different had I been depressed. Not that I couldn't relate to anything, I've seen depression run its course in my home, but, the memoir would have hit home more with those who were suffering too. Just like Wurtzel, they would know they're not alone.
There was one thing about her writing style that confused me. Nearly 150 pages into the book I hadn't figured out her "pattern" for writing in italics. In every chapter there is at least one italicized section in her mind to be emphasized? I still don't know the answer. What I do know is those sections always dealt with an idea Wurtzel was struggling with. Midway through the chapter, Love Kills, Wurtzel delves into her italics. "Can divorce possibly work when a child is involved?...But can this situation ever really be all right? Any breakup, even a brief romance, is rife with potential for all kinds of emotional rampages" (75-76). The previous part of the chapter focused on her parent's divorced relationship and how she felt her depression made it worse. I didn't understand why this inner monologue of sorts came now. And I didn't understand it the other fifteen times she used it. The writing in these parts was so strong, I didn't feel the italics were necessary. It ruined the surprise.
Besides the italics, I enjoyed reading Wurtzel memories. Being a teenage girl, I could relate to the boy troubles she had with Zachary, Stone, and Rafe. When she talked about her relationships it was very raw, she didn't leave out the ugly. A conversation she had with Stone made me laugh because of her behavior, "'Stone, I'm dying,' I said as soon as he picked up the receiver. `Again?' `Stone, I'm dead. I know I said that on Saturday, and I'm sorry to wake you, but there's all this blood and I'm shaking and in pain and I really think I might be dying and maybe I should see a doctor.' `Maybe you have your period'" and feel sorry for her because it showed she needed more than just drugs to cure her. Wurtzel has a gift for writing dialogue, and because it wasn't used often I knew whenever it was the whole scene was important.
Atypically depressed, Wurtzel's doctors finally gave her a pill to "cure" it. Prozac. After all her stress, and bad situations she went through I was so relived there was a better outlook for her future. She felt like a best friend who had just seen the light. Her attitude about life had shifted, "All I want is to life in between" (330).
If any memoir can make you feel as if you have befriended the author it deserves to be shared with many. Although I am not depressed, the disease is such a big part of my life in other ways I took away hope. And others will too. With all of the depression that looms the world, there can be a cure; one that is sought out by the depressed and one that is pushed forward by those who care enough about the lonely person.

Prozac Nation is a compelling memoir about Elizabeth Wurtzel's battle with Depression. With horrific memories and detailed explanations of only some of the awfulness of this terrible disease, Wurtzel opens up her life to the reader. The title of the book is somewhat misleading, because the majority of her story focuses on her early bouts of Depression, and her background, so that the reader can see why she didn't have a simple "chemical imbalance", but rather a long and complicated disease. Wurtzel gives her personal account in the form of a narrative, with interruptions of vivid memories, making it a captivating page-turner that embodies many familiar characteristics of a true memoir.

Although the majority of the book is upsetting, and does not necessarily put the reader in a good mood, Wurtzel guarantees that the reader will not get bored or too upset to put the book down. She writes about the positive influence of others on her character. At one point, she stumbles in to the Infirmary at Harvard University, where a doctor recognizes her need for therapy and takes care of financial issues. With divorced parents who tried to avoid each other as much as possible, Elizabeth was constantly put between the two, having to ask her father for the financial aid he was legally obligated to give but never actually gave. When Dr. King at Harvard agrees to call her father and arrange for payment for therapy, Elizabeth claims that "It is the nicest thing, I think, that anyone has ever done for me" (116).

Wurtzel also captures the attention of the reader by vividly depicting her illness. What's more, she is able to make it easy for any reader of any kind to understand her feelings, and what Depression feels like. Loneliness and separation are very big feelings that accompany Depression:

"My mind just goes off doing its own thing, never consulting me at all about whether it's alright to feel this way or that. I am constantly standing several feet away from myself, watching as I do or say or feel something that I don't want or don't like at all, and still I can't stop it" (162).

Most people can find some way to relate to this feeling, but all people can understand what she's saying and get a sense for what a person with Depression thinks and feels. Although every case of Depression is different, and not everyone feels the same things to the same extent, her depiction is very clear for everyone to understand.

While the story is very captivating, it also has its problems. It's quite repetitive in the sense that every scene is about how whatever is going on in Wurtzel's life goes awry because of her illness. She is constantly using drugs and alcohol in an attempt to avoid her problems. And although she does an excellent job of describing what Depression is, she does so multiple times in every chapter. However, overall it is a very interesting and touching piece of literature.

What makes this one of the most brilliant pieces of prose ever publisher, is not its linguistic beauty, nor the seduction of the narrative - it is quite simply one the most uplifting books I have ever read. This may sound odd, but as a sufferer from severe depression, this book did for me what Prozac could not. It provided a wholly rational account of my irrational situation. The feeling of empathy moved this young man to tears. Quite stunning!

I think I was misled.
Everything I heard about this book was wonderful, the idea was compelling and I heard great things about the author. I read the first chapter and was hooked. But then the book descended not into depression, but into a degree of whininess that seemed, sure, Kurt Cobain-esque at first and then grated on until the narrator seemed like a disillusioned Olsen twin. Point well taken: this is what it's like to listen to someone who's in the throes of depression. Having been through it myself (like the rest of the country) I'm not surprised. But when I hear people comparing this to "The Bell Jar", and hailing Wurtzel as having the power and voice of Kurt Cobain, I can't help but want to throw something. If anything, this book shows that all depression isn't glamor. She ISN'T as compelling as Kurt Cobain or even Plath, and perhaps that's the point. With this book, Wurtzel proves that depression isn't cool--I was so bored with the monotony that I had to force myself to finish it. Good.
But I hesitate to think that that's enough to make this a good book in its own right.

This book made me feel like, "Finally someone who understands how I suffer." For some reason, Ms. Wurtzel's book has come to be seen as a symbol of all Gen X woe, which I really don't think it is. Clinical depression has nothing to do with your "generation." Anyone of any age who has had some experience with clinical depression would appreciate this book. The people who don't like it usually find Ms. Wurtzel to be too "self-absorbed." Rightly so. Anyone who feels like dying every second of every day tends to be a little absorbed in his or her own life. I read this book awhile after I was diagnosed with clinical depression and really related to Wurtzel's problems. Though I've never had a drug habit, I could understand why someone with these feelings would (personally, I prefer to eat too many cookies). Her book was both enlightening and witty. Every now and then when I'm feeling really low and alone, I read a few pages of it just to remind myself it's not just me.