I am by temperament an optimist, and I thought from the beginning that there was much to be written about suicide that was strangely heartening.

One of the advantages of science is that one's work, ultimately, is either replicated or it is not.

I don't think grief of grief in a medical way at all. I think that I and many of my colleagues, are very concerned when grief becomes pathological, that there is no question that grief can trigger depression in vulnerable people and there is no question that depression can make grief worse.

I think wanting to write is a fundamental sign of disease and discomfort. I don't think people who are comfortable want to write.

Mood disorders are terribly painful illnesses, and they are isolating illnesses. And they make people feel terrible about themselves when, in fact, they can be treated.

Chaos and intensity are no substitute for lasting love, nor are they necessarily an improvement on real life.

I, quite literally, woke up from a coma, from having tried to kill myself and it was very clear to me what my psychiatrist had been saying for years. The choice is not between a drug that has side effects or not, life is not ideal. Yes, your drug has side effects and yes if you don't take it you're going to die.