Depression: the ambivalence of diagnosis.
The diagnosis of depression in the clinical context is extremely controversial and is subject to criticism of over-medicalisation and pharmaceuticalisation. Depression can be conceptualised across the entire spectrum of lay and medical belief, from the 'normal' highs and lows of the human condition to its inclusion in the dominant Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders classificatory system, as a form of serious mental illness. In this context, a better understanding of how people describe, experience, negotiate and participate in the process of diagnosis is needed. This article draws on qualitative interviews to explore lay accounts of being diagnosed with depression. The findings reveal that lay accounts of depression vacillate in and out of the medicalised discourse of depression, highlighting the limitations of the biomedical approach to diagnosis and treatment.
School of Political and Social Inquiry, Monash University, Melbourne, AustraliaSchool of Law Politics and Sociology, University of Sussex, Brighton, UKDepartment of Human Services, Melbourne, Australia.
Renata
R
Kokanovic
School of Political and Social Inquiry, Monash University, Melbourne, AustraliaSchool of Law Politics and Sociology, University of Sussex, Brighton, UKDepartment of Human Services, Melbourne, Australia.
Gillian
G
Bendelow
School of Political and Social Inquiry, Monash University, Melbourne, AustraliaSchool of Law Politics and Sociology, University of Sussex, Brighton, UKDepartment of Human Services, Melbourne, Australia.
Brigid
B
Philip
D000328:Adult; D000928:Antidepressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000523:psychology*; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D062528:Medicalization; D008875:Middle Aged; D058007:Physicians, Primary Care / Q000523:psychology
D000928:Antidepressive Agents