The New Black is an important and timely investigation into contemporary ideas about depression, the mourning process and loss. Leader reviews assumptions that depression is caused by a biological imbalance of chemicals in the brain and calls for a new approach that gives due consideration to the inner life of the sufferer. He also discusses how human beings respond to loss and separation: we may grieve consciously, but the unconscious process of mourning may be blocked. His analysis includes the role of public mourning and how the arts are crucial in helping people deal with loss, and he argues for the key place of creativity in melancholia, the most severe form of depressive illness.

Penguin Books Ltd | Paperback 240 pp. |ISBN: 9780141021225