This book is an interesting account of one woman’s battle with depression. It demonstrates the difficulty she had in finding herself and trying to understand herself. It is an extremely touching book and it deals with a variety of issues to do with religion and culture, as well as depression.
The short stories collected in Bedlam paint a broader picture. There are bipolar characters. There are others living with post-traumatic stress disorder. Or post-natal depression. Most cope with the stresses and shocks life throws at them. Some don’t, resorting to drugs, even contemplating suicide. There is violence in these tales but it is not connected to any medical condition. It is there, in society, and the perpetrators are far more likely not to have a mental condition.
What all the characters have in common is that they are ordinary people in sometimes extraordinary circumstances. If they have mental issues, there is nothing abnormal about them. It is simply because they are human.
By Ann Samuel