Jonathan Sadowsky's writing investigates madness and its compelling relationship with culture and society. A renowned historian of medicine, he is the author of Imperial Bedlam: Institutions of Madness and Colonialism in Southwest Nigeria, as well as Electroconvulsive Therapy in America: The Anatomy of a Political Controversy. He is the Theodore J. Castele Professor of the History of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University, where he is also Associate Director of the program in Medicine, Society, and Culture in the Department of Bioethics. In addition to holding degrees in African and European history, he has studied psychiatric epidemiology.

"Drawing from literature, medicine, psychology, anthropology, and memoir, Jonathan Sadowsky shows how much the history of depression informs our present understanding of it. This is an immensely readable book which challenges dogmatic opinions about a complex condition which may be 'hard to manualize' but, sadly, is also too often politicized."—Linda Gask, writer and psychiatrist"Sadowsky deftly guides the reader across history and continents in search of depression's past, present, and future. Engagingly written, measured in tone, and nuanced in its conclusions, The Empire of Depression never loses sight of the human suffering at the heart of its subject."—Greg Eghigian, editor of The Routledge History of Madness and Mental Health"fascinating."—New Statesman"a wise and discerning work."—Shepherd Express"What would an updated Anatomy of Melancholy look like? Perhaps something like Jonathan Sadowsky's The Empire of Depression.... Though neither a Galenist nor an Anglican priest, Sadowsky reminds one in many ways of Burton: wry, practical, humane...."—Gregory Hayes, New York Review of Books"With humour and personal reflexivity, Sadowsky unravels the history of depression in a comprehensive synthesis of a staggering range of sources, weaving classical, medical and academic literature with the tragic stories of prominent people such as artist, Mark Rothko and writer, Sylvia Plath."—Jacqueline Leckie, Health and History

• Preface 10Acknowledgments 191 Depression is a Thing 232 Too Dry and too Cold 523 Turned Inward 794 A Diagnosis in Ascent 1085 "Just Chemical" 1526 Darkness Legible 187Epilogue: Depression's Past and Future 216Note on the Historiography 221Partial Bibliography 226Index 232

Jonathan Sadowsky's writing investigates madness and its compelling relationship with culture and society. A renowned historian of medicine, he is the author of Imperial Bedlam: Institutions of Madness and Colonialism in Southwest Nigeria, as well as Electroconvulsive Therapy in America: The Anatomy of a Political Controversy. He is the Theodore J. Castele Professor of the History of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University, where he is also Associate Director of the program in Medicine, Society, and Culture in the Department of Bioethics. In addition to holding degrees in African and European history, he has studied psychiatric epidemiology.

"Drawing from literature, medicine, psychology, anthropology, and memoir, Jonathan Sadowsky shows how much the history of depression informs our present understanding of it. This is an immensely readable book which challenges dogmatic opinions about a complex condition which may be 'hard to manualize' but, sadly, is also too often politicized."—Linda Gask, writer and psychiatrist"Sadowsky deftly guides the reader across history and continents in search of depression's past, present, and future. Engagingly written, measured in tone, and nuanced in its conclusions, The Empire of Depression never loses sight of the human suffering at the heart of its subject."—Greg Eghigian, editor of The Routledge History of Madness and Mental Health"fascinating."—New Statesman"a wise and discerning work."—Shepherd Express"What would an updated Anatomy of Melancholy look like? Perhaps something like Jonathan Sadowsky's The Empire of Depression.... Though neither a Galenist nor an Anglican priest, Sadowsky reminds one in many ways of Burton: wry, practical, humane...."—Gregory Hayes, New York Review of Books"With humour and personal reflexivity, Sadowsky unravels the history of depression in a comprehensive synthesis of a staggering range of sources, weaving classical, medical and academic literature with the tragic stories of prominent people such as artist, Mark Rothko and writer, Sylvia Plath."—Jacqueline Leckie, Health and History

• Preface 10Acknowledgments 191 Depression is a Thing 232 Too Dry and too Cold 523 Turned Inward 794 A Diagnosis in Ascent 1085 "Just Chemical" 1526 Darkness Legible 187Epilogue: Depression's Past and Future 216Note on the Historiography 221Partial Bibliography 226Index 232

Jonathan Sadowsky's writing investigates madness and its compelling relationship with culture and society. A renowned historian of medicine, he is the author of Imperial Bedlam: Institutions of Madness and Colonialism in Southwest Nigeria, as well as Electroconvulsive Therapy in America: The Anatomy of a Political Controversy. He is the Theodore J. Castele Professor of the History of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University, where he is also Associate Director of the program in Medicine, Society, and Culture in the Department of Bioethics. In addition to holding degrees in African and European history, he has studied psychiatric epidemiology.

"Drawing from literature, medicine, psychology, anthropology, and memoir, Jonathan Sadowsky shows how much the history of depression informs our present understanding of it. This is an immensely readable book which challenges dogmatic opinions about a complex condition which may be 'hard to manualize' but, sadly, is also too often politicized."—Linda Gask, writer and psychiatrist"Sadowsky deftly guides the reader across history and continents in search of depression's past, present, and future. Engagingly written, measured in tone, and nuanced in its conclusions, The Empire of Depression never loses sight of the human suffering at the heart of its subject."—Greg Eghigian, editor of The Routledge History of Madness and Mental Health"fascinating."—New Statesman"a wise and discerning work."—Shepherd Express"What would an updated Anatomy of Melancholy look like? Perhaps something like Jonathan Sadowsky's The Empire of Depression.... Though neither a Galenist nor an Anglican priest, Sadowsky reminds one in many ways of Burton: wry, practical, humane...."—Gregory Hayes, New York Review of Books"With humour and personal reflexivity, Sadowsky unravels the history of depression in a comprehensive synthesis of a staggering range of sources, weaving classical, medical and academic literature with the tragic stories of prominent people such as artist, Mark Rothko and writer, Sylvia Plath."—Jacqueline Leckie, Health and History

• Preface 10Acknowledgments 191 Depression is a Thing 232 Too Dry and too Cold 523 Turned Inward 794 A Diagnosis in Ascent 1085 "Just Chemical" 1526 Darkness Legible 187Epilogue: Depression's Past and Future 216Note on the Historiography 221Partial Bibliography 226Index 232