Hurry Down Sunshine, by Michael Greenberg
Tuesday, November 4th, 2008 | psychology
The New York Review of Books is a great resource. They engage professional authors, many of whom are leading lights in their chosen field, to review books, making for some deep and encompassing reviews.
What caught me from the latest issue (published bi-monthly) was a review by Oliver Sacks of “Hurry Down Sunshine” by Michael Greenberg. (Sachs is the doctor behind “Awakenings“, the fictionalised drama starring Robin Williams and Robert De Niro, and a prolific author on the subject of mental-health.)
“Hurry Down Sunshine” is Greenberg’s account of the breakdown and subsequent treatment of his daughter Sally who, during her 15th-year, suffers a manic attack.
On July 5, 1996, my daughter was struck mad.
What makes this book different is Greenberg’s position as father, and his account of her treatment. A lot of books on mood disorders were written during the ‘electroshock’ therapy days, when patients were simply doped-up and shocked until they were limp enough to be released. Sacks’ review draws on other novelised accounts of mania and his own vast experience as a mental-health doctor, and is sensitive and heartfelt.
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