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Depression and Globalization
Carl Walker
Depression and Globalization
The Politics of Mental Health in the 21
st
Century
Carl Walker
Department of Mental Health Sciences
The Royal Free and University College
MedicalSchool
London W1W 7EJ
UK
ISBN: 978-0-387
-72712-7
e-
ISBN: 978-0-387-72723-4
Library of Congress Control Number: 2007934982
© 2008 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC
All rights reserved. This work may not be translated or copied in whole or in part without the written
permission of the publisher (Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, 233 Spring Street, New York,
NY 10013, USA), except for brief excerpts in connection with reviews or scholarly analysis. Use in
connection with any form of information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software,
or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed is forbidden.
The use in this publication of trade names, trademarks, service marks and similar terms, even if they are
not identifi ed as such, is not to be taken as an expression of opinion as to whether or not they are subject
to proprietary rights.
Printed on acid-free paper.
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
springer.com
For pap, a better man I have yet to meet
Preface
Why Depression and Why Now?
When I sat down to write a book on how recent global political changes are
contributing to our current prevalence and understanding of depression, a colleague
and good friend asked ‘why now?’ The implication was that depression had been
around for a great many years and had been a problem for people whose task it was
to address it for every bit as long. The reason why I wanted to write about depres-
sion now was straightforward. Stated simply, an increasing number of people are
suffering from depression as the years pass and in a medical context it is almost
universally agreed that its status as a health issue is now paramount. Depression is
now considered to be one of the most serious health issues faced in Europe
1
and the
United States in particular. In the UK and US, the cost of adult depression is
believed to be in the region of 15.5 billion euros and 100 billion euros, respectively.
In recent years, there has been a growing understanding of the immense burden that
the illness imposes on both individuals, their friends and families, and their com-
munities and it now represents 4.4% of the total disease burden around the world,
in the same range as heart disease.
2
Whereas in 1990, depressive disorders were
estimated to be the leading cause of disability and were the fourth leading cause of
total global burden of disease; the World Health Organisation expect them to be the
second leading cause of disease burden by 2020.
So why is the disease burden of depression predicted to increase? I hope that,
through the course of this book, the reader will come to better understand the eve-
ryday relevance of the political, economic and social changes that we have nebu-
lously come to understand as globalization and the increased incidence of
depression in the western world. In 1979, something happened in the US and the
UK that did not happen all over the world. An interconnected set of social, eco-
nomic and political changes occurred that placed a grinding halt on the post-war
social democratic consensus. For this reason, this book focuses mainly on the
changes that occurred in the US and the UK and the effects that they wrought. With
the possible exception of New Zealand, nowhere else in the developed world expe-
rienced such an almighty shift to the right as when the neoliberal project took hold
in the US and the UK.
vii
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Depression and Globalization
Carl Walker
Depression and Globalization
The Politics of Mental Health in the 21
st
Century
Carl Walker
Department of Mental Health Sciences
The Royal Free and University College
MedicalSchool
London W1W 7EJ
UK
ISBN: 978-0-387
-72712-7
e-
ISBN: 978-0-387-72723-4
Library of Congress Control Number: 2007934982
© 2008 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC
All rights reserved. This work may not be translated or copied in whole or in part without the written
permission of the publisher (Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, 233 Spring Street, New York,
NY 10013, USA), except for brief excerpts in connection with reviews or scholarly analysis. Use in
connection with any form of information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software,
or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed is forbidden.
The use in this publication of trade names, trademarks, service marks and similar terms, even if they are
not identifi ed as such, is not to be taken as an expression of opinion as to whether or not they are subject
to proprietary rights.
Printed on acid-free paper.
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
springer.com
For pap, a better man I have yet to meet
Preface
Why Depression and Why Now?
When I sat down to write a book on how recent global political changes are
contributing to our current prevalence and understanding of depression, a colleague
and good friend asked ‘why now?’ The implication was that depression had been
around for a great many years and had been a problem for people whose task it was
to address it for every bit as long. The reason why I wanted to write about depres-
sion now was straightforward. Stated simply, an increasing number of people are
suffering from depression as the years pass and in a medical context it is almost
universally agreed that its status as a health issue is now paramount. Depression is
now considered to be one of the most serious health issues faced in Europe
1
and the
United States in particular. In the UK and US, the cost of adult depression is
believed to be in the region of 15.5 billion euros and 100 billion euros, respectively.
In recent years, there has been a growing understanding of the immense burden that
the illness imposes on both individuals, their friends and families, and their com-
munities and it now represents 4.4% of the total disease burden around the world,
in the same range as heart disease.
2
Whereas in 1990, depressive disorders were
estimated to be the leading cause of disability and were the fourth leading cause of
total global burden of disease; the World Health Organisation expect them to be the
second leading cause of disease burden by 2020.
So why is the disease burden of depression predicted to increase? I hope that,
through the course of this book, the reader will come to better understand the eve-
ryday relevance of the political, economic and social changes that we have nebu-
lously come to understand as globalization and the increased incidence of
depression in the western world. In 1979, something happened in the US and the
UK that did not happen all over the world. An interconnected set of social, eco-
nomic and political changes occurred that placed a grinding halt on the post-war
social democratic consensus. For this reason, this book focuses mainly on the
changes that occurred in the US and the UK and the effects that they wrought. With
the possible exception of New Zealand, nowhere else in the developed world expe-
rienced such an almighty shift to the right as when the neoliberal project took hold
in the US and the UK.
vii
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