![]() Some books have changed my opinion on an issue slightly. It was his previous book on drugs, Chasing the Scream, that alerted me to the depth and breadth of his journalistic abilities. We have corresponded intermittently on our shared keenness to destigmatise mental illness ever since. As with most media frenzies, I assumed it to be overblown, and assumed also that it would eventually blow over, as indeed it did. Sure enough, in his reply he confided that he was prone to severe depression, something that was not exactly being helped by the onslaught on his reputation. ![]() ![]() Why else, when Johann Hari was at the centre of a furore over plagiarism that led to him losing his column on The Independent seven years ago, did I decide to drop him a line? I barely knew him and rarely read his paper, but something told me to offer a few words of encouragement that it is possible to survive media storms and emerge stronger. P erhaps depressives have an instinct for each other. ![]()
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