Embedded Files
By: Lilly Martinez
Memoirs, boring, right? A person whose name feels irrelevant, who found fame through prose, droning on and on about their life. Perhaps, a life that seems unworthy of so many pages.
However, human beings love to speak about themselves, as well as see themselves in literature or art. Elizabeth Wurtzel gave many people, who otherwise may not have seen themselves in literature, the opportunity to feel understood through her memoir “Prozac Nation”.
“Prozac Nation” follows Wurtzel through her adolescence to early adulthood. It is the gut-wrenching description of her battles with atypical depression and anxiety, beginning in 1986, an era where such things were taboo to speak of. It took over a decade, with multiple threats of suicide, along with multiple personal attempts on her life for Wurtzel to become medicated.
After doing research later in life, Wurtzel found statistics through the Rand Corporation that in a 1993 study, more than half of the surveyed physicians prescribed their patients medication for depression in under three minutes of the disease being discussed. By including these statistics, Wurtzel draws awareness to what she believes is an over-medicated world. At the same time, Wurtzel does a beautiful job of recognizing the frustration of those who struggle immensely with their mental health and should be medicated but are not taken seriously enough to be assigned a prescription - she was one of them for over a decade.
With such time to struggle as Wurtzel had, she has an extensive story to tell. Her memoir is mostly chronological, with the exception of a flashback here and there. Even through jumps in time, Wurtzel manages to keep her story easy to comprehend and follow.
At times, the pace of the story slows down, feels repetitive, or becomes excitingly quick. This makes complete sense, given the genre of book. It is not fiction, and it is not created for entertainment. It is to tell the genuine story of Elizabeth Wurtzel and to bring mindfulness to those who relate to her. It should be expected that life does not always move at the same pace, which is exactly what the book shows.
“Prozac Nation” was first published in 1994, then republished in 2017 with an afterword from Wurtzel. In this afterword, Wurtzel writes very opinionated, incredibly, and with more spunk than she had thirty years prior. Through her voice and the writing style (short sentences and intense words), Wurtzel makes her point clear that she stands by the description of her life that she sent out into the world. The afterword also brings comfort to readers who relate to Wurtzel because she confidently shares that she’s happy and successful; living proof that things can get better.
Elizabeth Wurtzel was brave to write and share “Prozac Nation” with all of her readers. Some people may still see this memoir as whining, but hopefully they look beyond those initial judgements and recognize what a compassionate thing it was for Wurtzel to let so many people know that they are not alone.
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