Cutcliffe, John R., and Lakeman, Richard (2010) Challenging normative orthodoxies in depression: Huxley's Utopia or Dante's Inferno? Archives of Psychiatric Nursing, 24 (2). pp. 114-124.

PDF (Published Version) Restricted to Repository staff only

Abstract

Although there appears to be a widespread consensus that depression is a ubiquitous human experience, definitions of depression, its prevalence, and how mental health services respond to it have changed significantly over time, particularly during recent decades. Epistemological limitations notwithstanding, it is now estimated that approximately 121 million people experience depression. At the same time, it should be acknowledged that the last two decades have seen the widespread acceptance of depression as a chemical imbalance and a massive corresponding increase in the prescription of antidepressants, most notably of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). However, questions have been raised about the effectiveness and iatrogenic side effects of antidepressants; related questions have also been asked about whose interests are served by the marketing and sales of these drugs. Accordingly, this article attempts to problematize the normative orthodoxy concerning depression and creates a "space" in which an alternative can be articulated and enacted. In so doing, the article finds that the search for a world where the automatic response to depression is a pharmacological intervention not only ignores the use of alternative efficacious treatment options but may also inhibit the persons' chance to explore the meaning of their experience and thus prevent people from individual growth and personal development. Interestingly, in worlds analogous to this pharmacologically induced depression-free state, such as utopias like that in Huxley's Brave New World, no "properly conditioned citizen" is depressed or suicidal. Yet, in the same Brave New World, no one is free to suffer, to be different, or crucially, to be independent.

Item ID:	44101
Item Type:	Article (Research - C1)
ISSN:	1532-8228
Related URLs:	http://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/38460/
Additional Information:	This article was based on a presentation the first author was invited to deliver at the 29th Congress of the International Academy of Law and Mental Health held in Paris 2005.
Date Deposited:	09 Sep 2016 05:11
FoR Codes:	11 MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES > 1110 Nursing > 111005 Mental Health Nursing @ 100%
SEO Codes:	92 HEALTH > 9204 Public Health (excl. Specific Population Health) > 920410 Mental Health @ 50% 92 HEALTH > 9202 Health and Support Services > 920210 Nursing @ 50%
Downloads:	Total: 2
	More Statistics