Depression and the Self Meaning, Control and Authenticity

Depression is widely recognised as the leading disability worldwide. Though classified as a medical condition, depression also contains very personal and social aspects which are integral to the experience - as those who have experienced it know all too well. Drawing on research interviews with women who have experienced depression, this psychological study elucidates experiences of depression and the meanings attached to it. In so doing, Browne challenges current understandings of depression as a chronic and endogenous illness and stresses the importance of the perception of authenticity among depression sufferers. Written in plain language accessible to non-specialists, Depression and the Self argues that in depression perceptions of control and the self are intertwined - and that this has important implications for diagnosis and recovery.

1. The self and related concepts; 2. The view from inside: the variety of views of depression; 3. Going for help: the impact of diagnosis on the self; 4. Taking the medicine: the impact of medication on the self; 5. Crossing your fingers: predicting depression's role in the future self; 6. Conclusion; Appendix A: listening and learning; Appendix B: women interviewed; Appendix C: interview guide.

Tamara Kayali Browne, a bioethicist and philosopher of medicine, currently works as a Lecturer in Health Ethics and Professionalism at Deakin University, Victoria. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge and a Postdoctoral Fellowship in neuroethics at Novel Tech Ethics, Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia. She also served as Lecturer in Bioethics at Sydney University and the Australian National University, Canberra, winning three teaching awards. Her research in philosophical and sociological issues in psychiatry has been published in peer-reviewed journals, including Philosophy, Psychiatry and Psychology; Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy; the Journal of Bioethical Inquiry; and Health, Risk and Society. Her work has also appeared in the media, including The Guardian, The Huffington Post, Psychology Today, The Globe and Mail, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, and ABC radio.