Deep Impact
One of the greatest mysteries in science is the working of the human mind. Siddhartha
Mukherjee wrote an extensive story on the science and history of treating depression, Post
Prozac Nation, in the Nytimes magazine’s health issue on April 23, which is now being frantically downloaded. It chronicles how doctors have treated depression over the years—from the invention of Prozac and the discovery of chemical imbalances causing depression to alleviating this with the formation of new nerve cells. Mukherjee, an assistant professor of medicine in the oncology division at Columbia University, became interested in the subject after encountering depression in some of his own cancer-stricken patients. The Pulitzer Prize winner is also the author of