Merkin feels keenly the stigma of talking about “the actual experience of depression.”“I was always afraid people would know and then I’d be mocked for life,” Merkin said recently. In “This Close to Happy,” all is explained, even if nothing about her depression and its treatment is certain (other than its appearance and recurrence). Merkin’s mother and father escaped from Germany before World War Two, yet their survivor’s guilt and the knowledge that many of their family members were murdered in Nazi death camps had an inescapable hold on Merkin’s mother. Merkin has not had a major episode of depression in almost a decade and “This Close To Happy” can be read as Merkin’s attempt to close the book on her depression and family drama. But better late than never.” And for Merkin’s many devoted readers, as well as for sufferers from depression and their family members and friends, better “This Close To Happy” than no “Happy” at all.

Source: Forbes February 27, 2017 19:34 UTC