This is an example of autobiographical writing. Wurtzel begins by explaining that because of circumstance, she was never diagnosed with depression until she was in her twenties. She explains that, as a young child, she was prodigious as almost everything she tried. She began to act out.
When her parents divorced, that's when Wurtzel believes her life sank into depression. When the therapy bills come, the absent father shows up to make a scene about the cost. After graduating, she leaves the family home to try and find her way in the real world. She goes to New York City and intends to go to Harvard.
While at college, she experiences her first full-blown psychological breakdown. Unsure how to proceed in life, she makes radical changes, trying life in Dallas. Ultimately, she finds that if New York and Dallas still leave her paranoid and panicky, perhaps she should leave America.
She goes to England, but just like in New York and Dallas, things go well until she gets used to her environment, and then the panic and depression set in. In her agony, she tries therapy and medication, but they don't know how to help with a case so severe. She suffers serious mood regulation issues.
They prescribe her a new drug called Prozac. The drug helps her, but not before she hits rock bottom and fails a suicide attempt. She notices that slowly, the drug actually helps. The drug becomes popular, and she notices that people start talking more about mental health as a result. In the end, she hopes the drugs effect will be that people are more open with themselves about their own mental health.
