Culture and Depression

This is the most complete, scholarly and provocative collection of reviews that attempt to separate what is the universal biological 'core' from what represents cultural contributions in depressive illness. Researchers will find a great deal that would challenge conventional ways of conceptualizing this illness and clinicians will find a wealth of intriguing clinical and historical detail to enrich their perspective. Culture and Depression is a must reading for everyone interested in mood disorders.--Hagop Akiskal, University of Tennessee Presents extraordinary data and analyses on the formation and expression of sadness and depression. It does so brilliantly, illustrating the complexity of the challenge and the variety of conceptual and methodological issues that must be addressed. Readers will find their understanding of this topic, and the research challenges that life ahead, greatly enriched.--David Mechanic, Rutgers University A milestone in its synthesis of ideas and evidence, and in its sustained effort to push anthropological perspectives about the nature of depression to their limit. Perhaps most important, the detail with which it uncovers shortcomings in existing studies presents a major challenge which no future cross-cultural psychiatric research can afford to ignore.--George W. Brown, Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, University of London