Prozac Nation: Young and Depressed in America

Wurtzel lunges the reader into the darkness of depression in the Prologue entitled "I Hate Myself and I Want to Die." In the very first paragraph she states, "I feel like a defective model, like I came off the assembly line flat out f***ed and my parents should have taken me back for repairs before the warranty ran out." Wow. She doesn't even ease into it! But that's what is great about this book. In a country where we try to sugar-coat the tough issues, here is a straight-forward , sugar-free portrayal of a topic so many of us are uncomfortable talking about, but which we all need to understand.

Wurtzel accounts her college years throughout the memoir while the reader hitches a ride onto her emotional roller coaster. Because she is forced to take prescription drugs in order to lead a normal life, Wurtzel begins experimenting with other drugs, such as cocaine. She quite often finds herself in the student health center waiting for answers to her depression, but almost always leaves with the same feeling of emptiness.

Elizabeth Wurtzel doesn't have much of a relationship with either parent, and has a hard time getting close to anyone. She describes an aloneness that encompasses over her, and she is left with nothing but her depression. "My depression is a lot like that: Slowly over the years, the data will accumulate in my heart and mind, a computer program for total negativity will build into my system, making life feel more and more unbearable."

Wurtzel even touches on the medication prescribed to the clinically depressed. Mind-altering medications such as these--Prozac, Zoloft--are still relatively new. She explains what is was like then (and now, in her afterword) to be one of the first people to experiment with the drug Prozac. She offers her knowledge about medications for depression, how they are prescribed, and other ways of treating depression.

With her unique style and strong voice, Wurtzel 's memoir will leave you in tears, laughing, and even more importantly, aware of this disease. She fills her pages with metaphors and irony, and amazes the reader with her direct insight on depression. There has never been a more personal and soul clutching portrait of a real person suffering from this very real disease we call depression. Elizabeth Wurtzel is a brave, unconquering person who is shown fighting for her right to live a happy life full of promise, and free of aloneness and despair.

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