Andrew Solomon is a journalist from New York who decided a few years ago to write a book that investigated the experience, science, and treatment of depression. His interest in the subject was not purely academic; he personally had suffered from it, sometimes unable to return friends’ phone calls or leave his home. Eventually in his research, it dawned on him that depression was not a modern, Western problem, but one that cut across cultures and time. This train of thought eventually brought him to tribal Senegal, interviewing a shaman about her ritual to cure depression. At the end of his interview with her, she told him that she could tell that he himself was depressed, and offered to actually perform the ritual for him. He agreed, and showed up the next day with the required two roosters, several yards of fabric, and a ram. By the end of the day, he was covered in ram’s blood, surrounded by villagers who had each taken their day off work to usher him through this. Despite his skepticism, he felt completely restored to happiness.