Reading this reminds me of the old joke: did you hear about the woman who accidentally backed into a plane propeller? Disaster. Methinks someone backed into Aspazia...
I think our country is overmedicated. From things I have read I think it is slightly worse with women, but that gender gap is closing fast as pharmaceutical firms are tring to boost profits:
http://alternet.org/sex/37642/
If you read that article directly on Bright's blog she has an earlier piece where she mentions talking to many college men about sexual dysfunction with medication use being associated with each story.
I'm talking about groups here, but since when is being young, healthy, and having your whole life ahead of you inspiring of depression? Give me a break.
Then there is this article, which from my experience is fairly typical of medical treatment these days:
http://www.slate.com/id/2143243/
There are people with serious brain health issues who really do medication, but I think they are far fewer than most people think.
How did the countless generations of teenagers, 20 somethings, women, and various oppressed groups of people throughout history survive ( with anti-depressants? Were they all, as groups, depressed? Bah!
Drug companies want to make money, many doctors are overworked (or lazy) hacks, and many people just believe what they are told without looking into things for themselves.
End of rant!
Sorry about the typos. I need to be more disciplined about proofreading. This is a charged subject for me. I have seen the overmedication crap around for years. It causes so much suffering and it is so unnecessary.
Excellent points. It seems like there's quite a bit of confusion between clinical depression and sadness or frustration related to issues in a person's life.
If one is treated like the other, some will get overmedicated while others will get undermedicated.
Interesting point, re: trying to get men to care.
As for the oppression=depression argument, I tried to avoid a generalized argument. I specifically think that rape and domestic violence create higher rates of depression, not general oppression. Those things happen cross-class and cross-race but I would imagine that single women are in fact less, not more, likely to be beaten and even raped by a partner.
Amanda--
"I specifically think that rape and domestic violence create higher rates of depression, not general oppression."
Actually I can't argue with you here. There is no doubt that women who are victims of rape and domestic abuse have high rates of depression, and your reasoning makes sense here.
"but I would imagine that single women are in fact less, not more, likely to be beaten and even raped by a partner."
Interesting . . . I want to look more into this.
Sorry about the typos. I need to be more disciplined about proofreading. This is a charged subject for me. I have seen the overmedication crap around for years. It causes so much suffering and it is so unnecessary.
I hear ya Steve and I agree that this trend is frustrating. For me, the key is figuring out exactly why it is frustrating.
I think it's more of a matter of dis-empowerment than oppression.
From people I know. One women I know - who probably _was_ oppressed - was able to turn it around by re-empowering herself and getting a degree and a good job in her late 40s.
Women I know who are depressed - find themselves overwhelmed by their lives and don't see a way out - even if there is one. As if they can't imagine actually having control over their lives. And/or = they are stuck is a system where they are/have been caregivers and have little control over anything.
Men that I know who don't get depressed - have been able to be in control of their careers/lives, had a wife who raised a family for them, and do not bother to be concerned about people in their lives who are depressed. It's as if depression does not exist. Or if it does exist for them - it's not a chronic thing - just temporary because of specific situations.
I can see where if you had a society where the men were disempowered (like because some powerful country/corporation came in and took over their land and resources) - and they couldn't fix their predicament - they might be more likely to have chronic depression as well.
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