First published in December 1989 in Vanity Fair, the book grew out of a lecture that Styron originally delivered at a symposium on affective disorders at the Department of Psychiatry of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

In October 1985, American author William Styron travels to Paris to receive the Prix mondial Cino Del Duca, a prestigious literary award.

One night, after a particularly intense bout of suicidal ideation that culminates in him actively preparing to take his own life, Styron hears a passage from Brahms' Alto Rhapsody, to which he has a fiercely emotional response.

Styron repeatedly emphasizes how each person encounters different sets of physical and psychological symptoms, which can include persistent sadness, fatigue, insomnia, pain, self-harm, futility, lack of concentration, loss of pleasure in things and activities that were once enjoyed, and suicide ideation.

[4] The following year, Random House published Styron's essay as a full-length memoir titled Darkness Visible, which included additional material that had been excluded from the original work due to limited space in Vanity Fair.

The title of the memoir originates from John Milton's description of Hell in Paradise Lost:[5] Upon its release, Darkness Visible received praise from critics and readers for eloquently yet frankly bringing awareness to clinical depression, a condition that was obscure yet prevalent among many people and highly stigmatized.

In his review for The Washington Post, Anthony Storr lauded Darkness Visible as "a beautifully written, deeply moving, courageously honest account of an illness which is eminently treatable, but which often goes unrecognized.

"[7] The Chicago Sun-Times conveyed similar praise in its description of Darkness Visible as "a chilling yet hopeful report from a mental wilderness into which one in ten Americans disappear...enlightening...fascinating."

In its critique, The New York Times hailed Darkness Visible as "compelling...harrowing...a vivid portrait of a debilitating disorder...it offers the solace of shared experience."