Malignant Sadness

Several years ago, Lewis Wolpert had a severe depressive episode. Despite a happy marriage and successful scientific career, he could think only of suicide. When eventually he did recover, he became aware of the stigma attached to depression – and just how difficult it was to get reliable information. With characteristic candour and determination he set about writing this book, an acclaimed investigation into the causes and treatments of this devastating disease, which formed the basis for a BBC TV series.

This edition features a new introduction, in which Lewis Wolpert discusses the reaction to his book and television series, and recounts his own recurring struggle with depression.

Author Biography

Lewis Wolpert is a distinguished developmental biologist and an accomplished broadcaster. He is Emeritus Professor of Biology as Applied to Medicine at University College, London, and has taken part in numerous radio programmes, particularly interviews with other scientists. A CBE and a Fellow of the Royal Society, he was chairman of the Committee on the Public Understanding of Science for four years. In 1999 Lewis Wolpert presented a BBC TV series about depression. Malignant Sadness, his book on the subject, was widely praised and has reprinted many times. Anthony Clare called it ‘erudite, scholarly, sober and stylish,’ while for Anthony Storr it is ‘an excellent book, the most objective short account I know of all the various approaches to depression.’