Shortlisted for the Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Awards The John Murray Show Listener's Award for 2011.Mary McEvoy, one of Ireland's best-loved actresses, lived for many years with undiagnosed depression. From the outside looking in, she was a successful, confident woman, making strides in her career, happy in her personal life. Yet, behind the scenes, there were times when she was so crippled with despair that the least she could do was to make it out of bed. Here, for the first time, Mary describes the true nightmare behind the facade, and how, since diagnosis, she has learned to cope, and deepened in wisdom through the experience. She traces the roots of her depression - a condition which, for a long time, she felt like she had no right to own, given that she experienced a happy childhood in a loving family. Yet key negative incidents in her early life would have a profound shape on what followed. She also looks at the broader question as to why depression is so prevalent today, and questions the modern obsession with perfection and youth, offering her 'least you can do' philosophy as a welcome antidote. She shares her insights into how a person can not only learn to cope with depression, but ultimately live life to its full potential - whatever that is.
