Manufacturing Depression: The Secret History of a Modern Disease - Hardcover

Greenberg, Gary

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1416569790 ISBN 13: 9781416569794

Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 2010

Synopsis

· Author with professional and personal experience: Psychotherapist Gary Greenberg’s musings on the intersection of science, politics, and ethics have graced the pages of The New Yorker , Wired , and Mother Jones. A longtime sufferer of depression, in 2007 he enrolled himself in a clinical trial for major depression (after his initial application for a minor depression trial was rejected). He wrote about his experience in a Harper’s magazine piece, which received a tremendous response from readers..

· “Am I happy enough?”: This has been a pivotal question since America’s inception. Am I not happy enough because I am depressed? is a more recent version. Greenberg shows how depression has been manufactured—not as an illness, but as an idea about our suffering, its source, and its relief. He challenges us to look at depression in a new way..

· A nation of depressives: In the twenty years since their introduction, antidepressants have become staples of our medicine chests—upwards of 30 million Americans are taking them at an annual cost of more than $10 billion. Even more important, Greenberg argues, it has become common, if not mandatory, to think of our unhappiness as a disease that can, and should, be treated by medication. Manufacturing Depression tells the story of how we got to this peculiar point in our history. .

About this title

From the Back Cover:

Am I happy enough? This has been a pivotal question since America's inception. Am I not happy enough because I am depressed? is a more recent version. Psychotherapist Gary Greenberg shows how depression has been manufactured---not as an illness but as an idea about our suffering, its source, and its relief. He challenges us to look at depression in a new way. In the twenty years since their introduction, antidepressants have become staples of our medicine chests. Upwards of 30 million Americans are taking them at an annual cost of more than $10 billion. Even more important, Greenberg argues, it has become common, if not mandatory, to think of our unhappiness as a disease that can---and should---be treated by medication. Manufacturing Depression tells the story of how we got to this peculiar point in our history.

About the Author:

Gary Greenberg is a practicing psychotherapist in Connecticut and author of The Noble Lie. He has written about the intersection of science, politics, and ethics for many publications, including Harper's, the New Yorker, Wired, Discover, Rolling Stone, and Mother Jones, where he's a contributing writer.

About this edition

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 1416569790
• ISBN 13: 9781416569794
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 448