Books: Night Shift

Night Shift is the story of Debi Gliori’s personal battle with her own dragon of depression. Gliori is well known as a writer and illustrator of children’s books. However, this beautiful little picture book is for adults, to help express what it can be like to suffer from depression.

The book itself looks lovely with its rich blue cloth colour and thick cream paper, and the monochrome illustrations (except for one showing the dragon’s fiery breath) are beautiful and simple, but effectively convey a condition that can be difficult to express with words. The dragon in the story represents the author’s own depression, creating a persistent fog around her through its smoke and a constant feeling of dread of something she cannot see or name. I have always been quite fond of dragons but the metaphor of the dragon as the depression clearly conveys the difficulties of having an illness that no one can see and many do not believe exists. The isolating nature of depression, of feeling hollow and lost, and the sense of not being yourself any more (something many patients have said to me) become visible through the illustrations. Gliori states that she published this book to help others going through depression and I can see that empathetic illustrations and text could be useful for patients who are struggling to express themselves, and perhaps to give to family and friends to read.

This book does not have a happy-ever-after ending. It does not show the author as recovered from her depression, or even show the things that may help, which may disappoint some people who are wanting to find answers. Instead, it finishes with a little message of hope that the depression will not last forever as she stops seeing dragons but starts to see seabirds flying overhead instead. Despite its small size and only taking a few minutes to read, the book is quite a powerful and moving personal expression of depression and a worthwhile quick read.

• © British Journal of General Practice 2017