Akedia: "The Demon of Noonday"

I am posting this thread here as a supplement to

nline-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?p=57371#post5737

which mentions the book "Noonday Demon"

(excerpts):

’Ακήδια: Akedia: Despondency

Our contemporary psychiatry and psychology are not so well acquainted with the passion of despondency. Most contemporary mental health professionals would diagnose a despondent person as having depression. We even have trouble distinguishing the words “dejection” and “despondency” from each other. But here the ancient fathers showed a depth of perception that is rare among mental health professionals at the present time.

I am following the convention of using the English term “despondency” to render the Greek word akedia (’ακήδια). Akedia is a compound word. The first part is the prefix a- (’α-), which means “not” and is used exactly like the prefix “un-” in English. The second part is the abstract noun kedia (κηδία), which itself is derived from the more concrete noun kedos (κη̃δος). Kedos means “care for others,” especially the kind of care that you show when someone dies. To have kedos for the dead means that you care so much for the dead person that you wash the body, attend the funeral, and see the remains of the person respectfully buried, even though the person you loved is now dead and gone and will do nothing more for you in this life. Kedia, therefore, is the action of showing kedos. The noun kedia is used twice in the Septuagint, the ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament. In both passages the word is used in reference to funerals (II Maccabees 4:49 and 5:10 ). The word is not used at all in the New Testament. A verb meaning “to bury the dead” is used in an alternate text of one passage, referring to the body of Saint John the Baptist (Mark 6:29 ), but not in the text of the New Testament that most of us read. But even though the word itself is not used in this context, it was displayed in the actions of some people when the Lord died. Saint Joseph of Arimathea displayed kedia when he provided the tomb for the Lord. The myrrh-bearing women displayed kedia when they went to that tomb, the action that led them to be the first to know that the Lord had risen from the dead.

Sit,

This is heavy stuff and thanks for the details, which I am printing out to study more, including that the title he took was from a Ps. His courage in writing about it is total, including the fact that some of his behavior was violent. One thing I never could get about the book, however, is that he has tons of "friends." I mean, at a telephone call he could have a dozen or two friends show up. I mean, who is fortunate enough to have a couple dozen close friends. He has friends from college, friends from work, friends from past parties, etc. and etc. All these friends are willing and able to pamper him. That is one factor of good fortune that some of us cannot concieve of in our more modest scope of experience! How can I possibly feel too sorry for a guy with so many damn friends?