The Empire of Depression. A Global History of a Destructive Illness

Depression has taken over the world. Just 150 years ago, the word depression described only a pessimistic mood. However, by the mid-20th century, as European empires crumbled, new Western clinical models and mental health treatment methods spread worldwide. Today, the diagnosis of Depression is made for every 25th inhabitant of our planet. Revealing the continuity of human suffering throughout history, psychiatrist Jonathan Sadowsky demonstrates how different cultures have described intense emotional pain and how they have tried to alleviate it. A number of treatments, both ancient and modern, do reduce suffering, but ultimate healing is still unattainable. This book attempts to consolidate all the essential information about depression and highlight key phenomena that will help to understand the scale of the epidemic and propose possible ways to overcome it.