FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

16 People, Impacted by Depression, Contribute Their Unforgettable Journeys to Encourage Dialogue

Bayview, Idaho, April 12, 2021 — The voice on the other end of the phone was familiar but shaky. It was Sarah’s friend Carolyn, and she was grappling with suicidal ideation.

“Something had her in its grip and would not let go,” Sarah Zabel explains. “I kept wondering, what’s doing this? How does a normal, happy person come to feel life is so bad that she must kill herself?”

Sarah shares Carolyn’s unforgettable story, along with the emotional journeys of 15 others, in Fighting Chance: How Unexpected Observations and Unintended Outcomes Shape the Science and Treatment of Depression. Included are interviews with more than 20 experts in the fields of neuroscience and psychiatry, plus current research, to give readers a 360-degree look inside the world of mental illness.

Described by Sarah as a “science book for non-scientists,” Fighting Chance tackles key questions that have guided scientific research for decades and delves into the discoveries that have formed the medical world’s understanding of the disorder. Peppered throughout are more than 20 illustrations that help explain the science involved, making it widely accessible.

Sarah adeptly explores topics ranging from the neurobiology of depression to antidepressant medications; stress and inflammation; genetics; suicide; traditional and alternative therapies and treatments; and even gives a nod to Big Data’s efforts to clarify depression’s causes and cures.

Ultimately, Fighting Chance is a tale of human endeavor and ingenuity, of downright weird experiments and serendipitous discoveries, and of people who valiantly battle for answers for themselves and for people they will never know.

Author Sarah Zabel graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy with a degree in computer science in 1987 and was commissioned a second lieutenant. She retired from the Air Force in 2018 as a major general and decided to turn her focus to her life-long love of learning and become a science writer. Inspired, intrigued and frustrated by an enduring friend’s battle with depression, she set herself the task of first coming to understand, and then to explain for other lay-persons, the science behind that terrible illness. Sarah does occasional consulting and other activities associated with her time as one of the military’s leaders in cyberspace operations and security, in the provision of communications and other services to a community, and leadership of a diverse workforce.

For more information, please visit https://www.sarahzabel.com.

Fighting Chance: How Unexpected Observations and Unintended Outcomes Shape the Science and Treatment of Depression

ISBN-10: 173584540X

ISBN-13: 978-1735845401