-
The Noonday Demon
- An Atlas of Depression
- Narrated by: Barrett Whitener
- Length: 22 hrs and 10 mins
- Categories: Health & Wellness, Psychology & Mental Health
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy for $37.79
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Far from the Tree
- Parents, Children and the Search for Identity
- By: Andrew Solomon
- Narrated by: Andrew Solomon
- Length: 40 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A brilliant and utterly original thinker, Andrew Solomon's journey began from his experience of being the gay child of straight parents. He wondered how other families accommodate children who have a variety of differences: families of people who are deaf, who are dwarfs, who have Down syndrome, who have autism, who have schizophrenia, who have multiple severe disabilities, who are prodigies, who commit crimes, who are transgender.
-
-
A Gripping Masterpiece
- By C. Beaton on 12-14-12
By: Andrew Solomon
-
Darkness Visible
- A Memoir of Madness
- By: William Styron
- Narrated by: William Styron
- Length: 2 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A work of great personal courage and a literary tour de force, this bestseller is William Styron's true account of his descent into a crippling and almost suicidal depression. Styron is perhaps the first writer to convey the full terror of depression's psychic landscape as well as the illuminating path to recovery.
-
-
Intimate and revealing
- By S. Yates on 01-31-18
By: William Styron
-
The Hilarious World of Depression
- By: John Moe
- Narrated by: John Moe
- Length: 9 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For years John Moe, critically-acclaimed public radio personality and host of The Hilarious World of Depression podcast, struggled with depression; it plagued his family and claimed the life of his brother in 2007. As Moe came to terms with his own illness, he began to see similar patterns of behavior and coping mechanisms surfacing in conversations with others, including high-profile comedians who’d struggled with the disease.
-
-
Funny and emotionally heavy: book title checks out
- By Shayla Houser on 06-19-20
By: John Moe
-
First, We Make the Beast Beautiful
- A New Journey Through Anxiety
- By: Sarah Wilson
- Narrated by: Sarah Wilson
- Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
While reading psychiatrist Kay Redfield Jamison's groundbreaking account of bipolar disorder, An Unquiet Mind, Sarah Wilson discovered an ancient Chinese proverb that would change her life: To conquer a beast, you must first make it beautiful. Wilson, a best-selling author, journalist, and entrepreneur, had spent years struggling with her own beast: Chronic anxiety. And the words of this proverb would become the key to understanding her condition.
-
-
Can’t do it!
- By Karen on 06-27-18
By: Sarah Wilson
-
Hello I Want to Die Please Fix Me
- Depression in the First Person
- By: Anna Mehler Paperny
- Narrated by: Kirsten Potter
- Length: 10 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In her early 20s, investigative journalist Anna Mehler Paperny had already landed her dream job. On the surface, her life was great. Nevertheless, she spiraled out, attempted suicide (the first of more attempts to follow), and landed in the ICU and then in a psych ward before setting out to tackle her recovery. In Hello I Want to Die Please Fix Me, Mehler Paperny turns her journalist's eye on her own experience and others' - in the ward; as an outpatient; facing family, friends, and coworkers; finding the right meds; trying to stay insured and employed.
-
-
Insightful
- By Lyndee Scherting on 04-15-21
-
Night Falls Fast
- Understanding Suicide
- By: Kay Redfield Jamison
- Narrated by: Sarah Mollo-Christensen, Kay Redfield Jamison
- Length: 11 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the author of the best-selling memoir An Unquiet Mind comes a major book on suicide, and its terrible pull on the young in particular. Night Falls Fast is tragically timely: suicide has become one of the most common killers of Americans between the ages of 15 and 45. An internationally acknowledged authority on depressive illnesses, Dr. Jamison has also known suicide firsthand: after years of struggling with manic-depression, she tried at age 28 to kill herself.
-
Far from the Tree
- Parents, Children and the Search for Identity
- By: Andrew Solomon
- Narrated by: Andrew Solomon
- Length: 40 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A brilliant and utterly original thinker, Andrew Solomon's journey began from his experience of being the gay child of straight parents. He wondered how other families accommodate children who have a variety of differences: families of people who are deaf, who are dwarfs, who have Down syndrome, who have autism, who have schizophrenia, who have multiple severe disabilities, who are prodigies, who commit crimes, who are transgender.
-
-
A Gripping Masterpiece
- By C. Beaton on 12-14-12
By: Andrew Solomon
-
Darkness Visible
- A Memoir of Madness
- By: William Styron
- Narrated by: William Styron
- Length: 2 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A work of great personal courage and a literary tour de force, this bestseller is William Styron's true account of his descent into a crippling and almost suicidal depression. Styron is perhaps the first writer to convey the full terror of depression's psychic landscape as well as the illuminating path to recovery.
-
-
Intimate and revealing
- By S. Yates on 01-31-18
By: William Styron
-
The Hilarious World of Depression
- By: John Moe
- Narrated by: John Moe
- Length: 9 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For years John Moe, critically-acclaimed public radio personality and host of The Hilarious World of Depression podcast, struggled with depression; it plagued his family and claimed the life of his brother in 2007. As Moe came to terms with his own illness, he began to see similar patterns of behavior and coping mechanisms surfacing in conversations with others, including high-profile comedians who’d struggled with the disease.
-
-
Funny and emotionally heavy: book title checks out
- By Shayla Houser on 06-19-20
By: John Moe
-
First, We Make the Beast Beautiful
- A New Journey Through Anxiety
- By: Sarah Wilson
- Narrated by: Sarah Wilson
- Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
While reading psychiatrist Kay Redfield Jamison's groundbreaking account of bipolar disorder, An Unquiet Mind, Sarah Wilson discovered an ancient Chinese proverb that would change her life: To conquer a beast, you must first make it beautiful. Wilson, a best-selling author, journalist, and entrepreneur, had spent years struggling with her own beast: Chronic anxiety. And the words of this proverb would become the key to understanding her condition.
-
-
Can’t do it!
- By Karen on 06-27-18
By: Sarah Wilson
-
Hello I Want to Die Please Fix Me
- Depression in the First Person
- By: Anna Mehler Paperny
- Narrated by: Kirsten Potter
- Length: 10 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In her early 20s, investigative journalist Anna Mehler Paperny had already landed her dream job. On the surface, her life was great. Nevertheless, she spiraled out, attempted suicide (the first of more attempts to follow), and landed in the ICU and then in a psych ward before setting out to tackle her recovery. In Hello I Want to Die Please Fix Me, Mehler Paperny turns her journalist's eye on her own experience and others' - in the ward; as an outpatient; facing family, friends, and coworkers; finding the right meds; trying to stay insured and employed.
-
-
Insightful
- By Lyndee Scherting on 04-15-21
-
Night Falls Fast
- Understanding Suicide
- By: Kay Redfield Jamison
- Narrated by: Sarah Mollo-Christensen, Kay Redfield Jamison
- Length: 11 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the author of the best-selling memoir An Unquiet Mind comes a major book on suicide, and its terrible pull on the young in particular. Night Falls Fast is tragically timely: suicide has become one of the most common killers of Americans between the ages of 15 and 45. An internationally acknowledged authority on depressive illnesses, Dr. Jamison has also known suicide firsthand: after years of struggling with manic-depression, she tried at age 28 to kill herself.
-
Feeling Good
- The New Mood Therapy
- By: David D. Burns MD
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 13 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The good news is that anxiety, guilt, pessimism, procrastination, low self-esteem, and other 'black holes' of depression can be cured without drugs. In Feeling Good, eminent psychiatrist David D. Burns, M.D. outlines the remarkable, scientifically proven techniques that will immediately lift your spirits and help you develop a positive outlook on life.
-
-
Love the PDF enhancements that come with the book.
- By Tuesday Nyx on 12-20-18
-
Suicidal
- Why We Kill Ourselves
- By: Jesse Bering
- Narrated by: Joe Hempel
- Length: 9 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For much of his 30s, Jesse Bering thought he was probably going to kill himself. He was a successful psychologist and writer, but the impulse to take his own life remained. At times it felt all but inescapable. Bering survived. And in addition to relief, the fading of his suicidal thoughts brought curiosity and questions. In Suicidal, Bering takes us through the science and psychology of suicide, revealing its cognitive secrets and the subtle tricks our minds play on us when we're easy emotional prey.
-
-
The book I was looking for.
- By Warrenjb on 01-04-20
By: Jesse Bering
-
The Upward Spiral
- Using Neuroscience to Reverse the Course of Depression, One Small Change at a Time
- By: Alex Korb PhD.
- Narrated by: David deVries
- Length: 5 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Depression can feel like a downward spiral, pulling you down into a vortex of sadness, fatigue, and apathy. Based in the latest research in neuroscience, this audiobook offers dozens of little things you can do every day to rewire your brain and create an upward spiral towardsa happier, healthier life.
-
-
Practical & Positive
- By Sara on 07-05-15
By: Alex Korb PhD.
-
Reasons to Stay Alive
- By: Matt Haig
- Narrated by: Matt Haig
- Length: 4 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Like nearly one in five people, Matt Haig suffers from depression. Reasons to Stay Alive is his inspiring account of how, minute by minute and day by day, he overcame the disease with the help of reading, writing, and the love of his parents and his girlfriend (now wife), Andrea. And eventually, he learned to appreciate life all the more for it. Everyone's lives are touched by mental illness; if we do not suffer from it ourselves, then we have a friend or loved one who does.
-
-
Wonderful entry to those just starting to struggle with anxiety and depression
- By polevaultercourtney on 07-25-16
By: Matt Haig
-
The Mindful Way Through Depression
- Freeing Yourself from Chronic Unhappiness
- By: Mark Williams, John Teasdale, Zindel Segal, and others
- Narrated by: Mark Williams, John Teasdale, Zindel Segal, and others
- Length: 5 hrs and 13 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
If you've ever struggled with depression or know someone who has, take heart: Mindfulness practice is a simple, powerful way to naturally break depression's self-perpetuating cycle. With The Mindful Way Through Depression, four leading researchers present insightful lessons drawn from both Eastern meditative traditions and cognitive therapy about how to triumph over this illness - and, more importantly, how to prevent it from striking again.
-
-
Thankful to have found this audible
- By Colin O'Sullivan on 02-25-16
By: Mark Williams, and others
-
An Unquiet Mind
- A Memoir of Moods and Madness
- By: Kay Redfield Jamison
- Narrated by: Kay Redfield Jamison
- Length: 2 hrs and 46 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The personal memoir of a manic depressive and an authority on the subject describes the onset of the illness during her teenage years and her determined journey through the realm of available treatments.
-
-
Heavily Abridged!!!
- By Kyle on 05-24-13
-
Undoing Depression
- What Therapy Doesn't Teach You and What Medication Can't Give You
- By: Richard O'Connor
- Narrated by: Richard O'Connor PhD
- Length: 14 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Like heart disease, says psychotherapist Richard O'Connor, depression is fueled by complex and interrelated factors: genetic, biochemical, environmental. In this refreshingly sensible book, O'Connor focuses on an additional factor often overlooked: our own habits.
-
-
IF YOU ARE DEPRESSED YOU HAVE TO READ THIS!
- By Summer on 04-08-11
By: Richard O'Connor
-
Wintering
- The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times
- By: Katherine May
- Narrated by: Rebecca Lee
- Length: 6 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sometimes you slip through the cracks: unforeseen circumstances like an abrupt illness, the death of a loved one, a breakup, or a job loss can derail a life. These periods of dislocation can be lonely and unexpected. For May, her husband fell ill, her son stopped attending school, and her own medical issues led her to leave a demanding job. Wintering explores how she not only endured this painful time, but embraced the singular opportunities it offered. Ultimately Wintering invites us to change how we relate to our own fallow times.
-
-
I look forward to my next time of Wintering!
- By bgilmore on 01-12-21
By: Katherine May
-
New Family Values
- By: Andrew Solomon
- Narrated by: Andrew Solomon
- Length: 6 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Drawing on dozens of intimate audio interviews with families from all across the country, award-winning psychologist and writer Andrew Solomon redefines what it means to be an “ideal family” in America today. Solomon observes that America, led in large part by the women’s, civil rights, and gay rights movements, has undergone a radical social shift in the last few decades. Although the structure of family has changed, economic and legal structures lag behind and need to adapt to accommodate this explosive new reality.
-
-
Difficult subject handled well.
- By Michael on 12-21-18
By: Andrew Solomon
-
It's Not Always Depression
- Working the Change Triangle to Listen to the Body, Discover Core Emotions, and Connect to Your Authentic Self
- By: Hilary Jacobs Hendel, Diana Fosha - foreword
- Narrated by: Hilary Jacobs Hendel, Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 8 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sara suffered a debilitating fear of asserting herself. Spencer experienced crippling social anxiety. Bonnie was shut down, disconnected from her feelings. These patients all came to psychotherapist Hilary Jacobs Hendel seeking treatment for depression, but in fact none of them were chemically depressed. Rather, Jacobs Hendel found that they’d all experienced traumas in their youth that caused them to put up emotional defenses that masqueraded as symptoms of depression. Jacobs Hendel led these patients and others toward lives newly capable of joy and fulfillment....
-
-
Simple and Profound
- By Joseph D Woodbury on 02-20-18
By: Hilary Jacobs Hendel, and others
-
Lost Connections
- Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression - and the Unexpected Solutions
- By: Johann Hari
- Narrated by: Johann Hari
- Length: 9 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the New York Times best-selling author of Chasing the Scream, a radically new way of thinking about depression and anxiety. What really causes depression and anxiety - and how can we really solve them?
-
-
Are we turning the corner....
- By jaga on 06-07-18
By: Johann Hari
-
Please Look After Mom
- By: Kyung-Sook Shin, Chi-Young Kim - translator
- Narrated by: Mark Bramhall, Samantha Quan, Janet Song, and others
- Length: 7 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A million-plus-copy best seller in Korea - a magnificent English-language debut poised to become an international sensation - this is the stunning, deeply moving story of a family’s search for their mother, who goes missing one afternoon amid the crowds of the Seoul Station subway. Told through the piercing voices and urgent perspectives of a daughter, son, husband, and mother, Please Look After Mom is at once an authentic picture of contemporary life in Korea and a universal story of family love.
-
-
Daughter wrote, Mom approved.
- By RatorA on 05-15-11
By: Kyung-Sook Shin, and others
Publisher's Summary
National Book Award, Nonfiction, 2001
With uncommon humanity, candor, wit, and erudition, National Book Award winner Andrew Solomon takes the listener on a journey of incomparable range and resonance into the most pervasive of family secrets.
The Noonday Demon examines depression in personal, cultural, and scientific terms. Drawing on his own struggles with the illness and interviews with fellow sufferers, doctors and scientists, policymakers and politicians, drug designers and philosophers, Solomon reveals the subtle complexities and sheer agony of the disease. He confronts the challenge of defining the illness and describes the vast range of available medications, the efficacy of alternative treatments, and the impact the malady has had on various demographic populations around the world and throughout history. He also explores the thorny patch of moral and ethical questions posed by emerging biological explanations for mental illness.
The depth of human experience Solomon chronicles, the range of his intelligence, and his boundless curiosity and compassion will change the listener's view of the world.
Critic Reviews
More from the same
What listeners say about The Noonday Demon
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- The Hiberantor
- 11-04-15
Thorough and personal
Noonday Demon is Andrew Solomon's amazing memoir / history of depression - it's a must-read for anyone who wants to delve deeply into the causes and effects of depression. Solomon begins with his own journey through several severe depressive episodes. For a broader personal understanding of depression, he intermittently includes stories of "depressives" that he's interviewed. In his research for this book, Solomon explored many standard therapies for depression (i.e. medicine, psychotherapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, electroconvulsive therapy, etc.); but he also explored some very atypical therapies such as an African ritual in which he lay naked and covered in goat blood while people danced around him with a dead chicken. (He actually found it very cathartic.)
He followed his personal journey with epidemiology, biological causes, and historical development of depression.
I found this book fascinating. Solomon did a great job of inserting little vignettes of his own story or stories of people he interviewed into his more intellectual portions of the book, so that the material never became dry despite its length. Solomon came up with so many interesting points that I was always interested in what he would say next. His own story was touching. His facts seemed very well-researched. In short, it was simply an amazing book.
The narration was quite good, no complaints there!
11 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Cristina
- 01-04-14
Moments of awesome but not clear message
This is a great book if you want to hang out with depression in its many forms. It's like a fleamarket for depression-related thoughts, scenes, and events. There are moments of perfection - stories of assisted suicide, of people who attempt to get infected with HIV, insides of mental hospitals, individuals with moving life stories and many more.
If this book had been written as a series of focused short stories, like 'The man who mistook his wife for a hat' or 'phantoms in the brain', it would have worked perfectly.
As it is, the book seems long, at times a little scattered, and one sometimes can feel that they are reading a memoir of the author rather than a book about depression itself. It lacks a clear message: based mostly on personal stories with little synthesis, it is reminiscent of many other books about scientific topics that are written by non-experts with a journalistic bent - while fun, you may not really learn anything new.
14 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- amber3j
- 04-10-19
Informational but not for everyone
I do not suffer from depression but my family does. I have a much better understanding of what is going on in their head. It doesn’t make any sense to me but that’s why I read this book. It gave me a different perspective that I would have not gotten on my own. Also what is possible to expect from them. It really opened my eyes even though I have seen the effects of depression by hearing more of the internal dialogue from the people he interviews.
I wouldn’t recommend someone who is depressed read this book because it is very dark and I would worry it could give them more ideas. Or make there depression worse.
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- DK12
- 02-03-18
Great content marred by narration
Wonderful, comprehensive read but the narrator should have learned how to pronounce the names of psychiatric meds and other key words correctly before taking this book on. Mispronounced Depakote, Nardil and other meds multiple times which is grating to listen to as well as other names like Kraepelin and, astonishingly the word Haitian (pronounced Ha-yee-tian). Where were the editors or the author in this? I’m a psychiatrist so listened to this book from a different vantage point but appreciated the wonderful review and synthesis of data and especially the personal stories which conveyed the enormous suffering and toll depression takes.
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- dran
- 10-26-17
Are you kidding me?
Nothing to do with how to tame depression and everything to do with the authors disgusting privileged life
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Yvonne Jackson
- 05-19-15
Understanding as Tonic?
When I first heard of this book, the reviewer thought it would be a downer for someone suffering from depression. I'm glad I didn't listen. The light of understanding always dispels haunting shadows and allows us to separate what is from what is uncertain. The journalistic approach along with a bit of more formal scholarship makes the text moving and informing.
13 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Sav
- 08-13-16
Brilliant
What did you love best about The Noonday Demon?
I loved how the story was a mix between scientific explanation and personal accounts, both from Solomon's life and the lives of other he interviewed for this book.
Who was your favorite character and why?
I Andrew Solomon himself was definitely my favorite character. He writes so beautifully, and it's like he allowed us to be a fly on the wall in his own struggle.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
I definitely wanted to, but the book is far too long for that!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kelsey
- 01-14-13
LOVE this book
What made the experience of listening to The Noonday Demon the most enjoyable?
The perspective is very interesting - I like that he discusses his own experiences but then also provides the experiences of others. Also, including objective information helps maintain an unbiased view.
Who was your favorite character and why?
n/a
What does Barrett Whitener bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
He reminds me of the author so I am able to picture him in the scenes/experiences in the book more easily.
If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?
n/a
Any additional comments?
n/a
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Daphne Stevens
- 09-03-12
If you want to get depressed....
Would you try another book from Andrew Solomon and/or Barrett Whitener?
If you haven't suffered from catastrophic depression and want a guide-book, this is the book for you. The author has researched his topic well, but his preoccupation with his own story makes it difficult to distinguish the difference among autobiography, scholastic statistics, and anecdote. All three are in fact pretty grim.
Depression is serious, and it deserves serious attention. But the fact that the author leaves open the question of his own suicidal risk while graphically describing his mother's assisted suicide and citing statistics on the risks is not helpful to the reader.
I've read a number of the works the author cites. Kay Jamison has written graphic memoirs on her own depression, suicidal feelings, and the multitude of difficult treatments she underwent before she was stabilized on the correct regimen. She's also written a body of literature--for both clinical practitioners and those struggling with the disease--exploring the realities of mood disorders, suicidal risks and statistics that should be considered in treating depression. She also explores the creative aspects of ongoing mood swings.
Solomon tries to convey a message, but the reader is left to discern what it is. It may have been therapeutic to write. Not so therapeutic to read.
What three words best describe Barrett Whitener’s voice?
Whiney
Resigned
Sing-song
Did The Noonday Demon inspire you to do anything?
Yes. To avoid recommending this work to my clients.
14 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- lls
- 07-10-14
disappointment
What would have made The Noonday Demon better?
This guy is seriously solipsistic and so, so boring. As a long-time sufferer of depression myself, I found he lacked empathy or insight into anyone not like him. His comments about feminist theory and depression were dismissive and judgmental while when covering similar themes relating to the LGBTQ community and depression, he was overwhelmingly compassionate and accepting. In addition the narrator sounded like an automaton. Couldn't even finish it.
Would you ever listen to anything by Andrew Solomon again?
NO
Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Barrett Whitener?
Someone who doesn't sound like a robot. The woman who narrates "The Diamond Age" Jennifer Wiltsie, would have been wonderful
What character would you cut from The Noonday Demon?
Andrew Soloman
6 people found this helpful