On the Edge of Darkness: Conversations a

Cronkite's central message is that long-term depression is a real disease and is treatable, though finding the treatment best suited to a particular individual can be a lengthy trial-and-error process. Herself a sufferer from clinical depression since childhood, she interweaves her own experience and interviews with medical experts as well as first-person accounts by celebrities who have overcome the debilitating effects of depression. Testimonies by Joan Rivers, Mike Wallace, Kitty Dukakis, John Kenneth Galbraith, Rona Barrett, William Styron, Dick Clark and others are organized around specific themes such as substance abuse, suicidal impulses and overcoming stigma and shame. Although Cronkite ( On the Edge of the Spotlight ) leans toward a biochemical approach, she does not neglect psychological treatments like cognitive therapy, and her inspirational survey, despite its patchwork quality, will serve as a life raft to many. (Mar.)