Darkness Visible

Without alcohol he felt like he never did before emotionally naked, and venerable. .
             Because Styron was dependant on alcohol when he quit drinking he experienced many of the withdrawal symptoms alcohol dependant people face. There are 3 stages of alcohol withdrawal; Stage 1 includes anxiety (the jitters), headache, and nausea and usually occurs a few hours after the person has stopped drinking. Stage 2 includes convulsive seizures which may begin as early as 12 hours after drinking. Stage 3 is characterized by delirium tremens, bizarre hallucinations, disrupted sleeping patterns, severe agitation and complete disorientation. If a person is severely depressed and experiences hallucinations, tremors, and more anxiety than they are already facing this is going to do a lot of psychological damage to that person. .
             When Styron returned to Paris in 1985 he became fully aware that his bout with depression may actually kill him or have a fatal outcome. Before returning to Paris he felt the suicidal tendencies there somewhere but they never interfered with his life like they did than night in Paris, this is part due to the alcohol withdrawal symptoms. It was a miserable night in Paris, raining, damp, everything seemed dull and dreary. Styron was in Paris to receive an award for his literary work. Before him only one American had received this award. Surely receiving this award should have made Styron happy but it did not. This is very common in people with depression. .
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             At this point Styron was unable to experience pleasure, had a distinct depressed mood, experienced the inability to sleep, was anhedonic (experiencing anhedonia), and had a sense of worthlessness. These symptoms point to a Major depression with melancholic features. As his condition worsened I think he experienced a few manic episodes as well as Major depression with catatonic and psychotic features. I say this because he mentions going for a walk in the woods and being deathly afraid of the Canadian Geese honking feeling as though the world was caving in on him.