Depression In Elizabeth Wurtzel's Prozac Nation

Prozac Nation is a memoir written by Elizabeth Wurtzel where she mostly recounts her teenage and college years. During her young teenage years, Elizabeth gradually fell into a serious depression, and began to inflict self-harm, as well as lash out against those around her. Elizabeth had always been a smart girl and turned to writing as a means of coping with the pain she dealt with. Her mother never understood her depressive episodes and would often act out in anger instead of with understanding. Elizabeth’s mother became pregnant with her at a young age and was never able to have a fulfilling career. To make up for what she never had, Elizabeth’s mother wanted to mold her into a bright girl who would one day attend Harvard. Although, Elizabeth turned out to be a remarkably bright young girl and did attend Harvard, Elizabeth was a deeply damaged child. Her father had left Elizabeth and her mother without notice, and became an increasingly less active role in their lives. He didn’t pay …show more content…
She was more active, but only because she turned to an ever-more damaging alternative, the party scene. She became increasingly more emotionally withdrawn, but delved into a world of drinking, drugs, and promiscuous sex. All these coping mechanisms for her depression distracted her, but only damaged her that much more. Along with her college depression, disruptive sleep patterns emerged, which truly brought on her insanity. Only after being forcibly checked into a hospital, and falling into a deeper depression was she able to begin her recovery. She still frequently lashed out, but her lack of interest transformed into emotionally overbearing those around her. I think she was so dependent on the drugs and writing as coping mechanisms that when she abandoned them, she became dependent on those around her. Only with those around her finally understanding her, and with the Prozac was she able to