Unparalleled Sorrow: Finding My Way Back From Depression

In early 2008, Barry Dickins—an artist and author—suffered from insomnia. He went to the doctor, who cited clinical and severe depression as the cause. He checked in to a clinic and was told that he would be there until the joy returned to him. But the joy eluded Barry for months, and so for months he stayed alongside patients with schizophrenia, bipolar disorders, and other traumas. He took his medication and succumbed to the electroconvulsive therapy, which left him unable to grip a pen and riddled his memory with holes. Written with Barry's inimitable wit, humor, and lyricism—and his ability to find the ridiculous and the jubilant amid the pain—this heart-wrenching account follows Barry from the lows of the clinic to his eventual departure and the small joys of a game of tennis with his young son.