What do you think?
Rate this book
The Empire of Depression: A New History
Depression has colonized the world. Today, more than 300 million of us have been diagnosed as depressed. But 150 years ago, "depression" referred to a mood, not a sickness.
Does that mean people weren't sick before, only sad? Of course not. Mental illness is a complex thing, part biological, part social, its definition dependent on time and place. But in the mid-twentieth century, even as European empires were crumbling, new Western clinical models and treatments for mental health spread across the world. In so doing, "depression" began to displace older ideas like "melancholia," the Japanese "utsushô," or the Punjabi "sinking heart" syndrome.
Award-winning historian Jonathan Sadowsky tells this global story, chronicling the path-breaking work of psychiatrists and pharmacists, and the intimate sufferings of patients. Revealing the continuity of human distress across time and place, he shows us how different cultures have experienced intense mental anguish, and how they have tried to alleviate it.
He reaches an unflinching the devastating effects of depression are real. A number of treatments do reduce suffering, but a permanent cure remains elusive. Throughout the history of depression, there have been overzealous promoters of particular approaches, but history shows us that there is no single way to get better that works for everyone. Like successful psychotherapy, history can liberate us from the negative patterns of the past.
Does that mean people weren't sick before, only sad? Of course not. Mental illness is a complex thing, part biological, part social, its definition dependent on time and place. But in the mid-twentieth century, even as European empires were crumbling, new Western clinical models and treatments for mental health spread across the world. In so doing, "depression" began to displace older ideas like "melancholia," the Japanese "utsushô," or the Punjabi "sinking heart" syndrome.
Award-winning historian Jonathan Sadowsky tells this global story, chronicling the path-breaking work of psychiatrists and pharmacists, and the intimate sufferings of patients. Revealing the continuity of human distress across time and place, he shows us how different cultures have experienced intense mental anguish, and how they have tried to alleviate it.
He reaches an unflinching the devastating effects of depression are real. A number of treatments do reduce suffering, but a permanent cure remains elusive. Throughout the history of depression, there have been overzealous promoters of particular approaches, but history shows us that there is no single way to get better that works for everyone. Like successful psychotherapy, history can liberate us from the negative patterns of the past.
364 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 22, 2020
26 people are currently reading
724 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
November 17, 2020
Reaction: comprehensive look into the history of depression that touches base with many scholarly pursuits through a historian’s point of view. Very engaging throughout the book
Writing Style: academic but easily accessible with examples drawn from pop culture as well as academic writing
Argumentation: depression literature needs a new analysis, not through memoir, and not just merely Western biomedicine. It needs a historical take that traces origins on how different cultures perceive the presence, or absence, of depression as a medical condition and how we have developed therapies such as ECT, prozac, and other treatments
Commendation: examples that are not limited just to writing, but other multimedia sources, and tracing a couple conceptions of other cultures that most Western educated readers will not realize exist
Critique: consider adding a section on spirituality, since the conceptions of mental illness may change depending on the beliefs that a community has
Writing Style: academic but easily accessible with examples drawn from pop culture as well as academic writing
Argumentation: depression literature needs a new analysis, not through memoir, and not just merely Western biomedicine. It needs a historical take that traces origins on how different cultures perceive the presence, or absence, of depression as a medical condition and how we have developed therapies such as ECT, prozac, and other treatments
Commendation: examples that are not limited just to writing, but other multimedia sources, and tracing a couple conceptions of other cultures that most Western educated readers will not realize exist
Critique: consider adding a section on spirituality, since the conceptions of mental illness may change depending on the beliefs that a community has
April 26, 2024
I really, really loved this; Sadowsky is thoughtful.............. Also I want to give this book to everyone who is like reflexively "ugh I hate Freud he's so dumb" because I also hate Freud but in the RIGHT WAY !!!!!!!!! (recognizing his work as incredibly important historically). but that would be silly
anyways.......................
anyways.......................
October 5, 2024
C’est dur à avaler parce que c’est académique et très exigent intellectuellement et émotionnellement. J’hésitais à le lire depuis longtemps et je suis très heureuse d’avoir pris mon courage à deux mains pour le commencer. Il est super super complet et répond à énormément de mes questions: la dépression est-il un truc de blancs privilégiés ? Qu’est ce qu’on fait des différences culturelles ? D’où viennent-elles ? Pourquoi la psychanalyse ramène tout à la mère et à l’enfance ? Est-ce physique ? Est il encore possible d’affirmer l’existence d’un inconscient ? Qu’est ce que l’on appelle « maladie »?
La dépression est un monstre et ça fait du bien d’avoir un bouquin qui éclaire un peu son histoire. Je suis trop heureuse de replacer tout ça dans un contexte politique et historique.
Je suis vraiment épatée et admirative de la manière dont l’auteur décortique tout ça, en rappelant que la psychiatrie a fait énormément de mal aux personnes ravisées, aux femmes, aux homosexuels, que la maladie est elle aussi une construction sociale.
La dépression est un monstre et ça fait du bien d’avoir un bouquin qui éclaire un peu son histoire. Je suis trop heureuse de replacer tout ça dans un contexte politique et historique.
Je suis vraiment épatée et admirative de la manière dont l’auteur décortique tout ça, en rappelant que la psychiatrie a fait énormément de mal aux personnes ravisées, aux femmes, aux homosexuels, que la maladie est elle aussi une construction sociale.
March 18, 2023
Are melancholy and depression the same thing? Do a depressed person needs only theraphy, medication, both or none? Is the depression the same illness in Japan and Latin America than it's on Europe? These and other questions are put to the test and answered with beautiful honesty by Sadowsky in this tour de force through one of the most elusive illnesses of the world. Although the writer tends to be more psychoanalytical, he recognizes it and has the bravery of pointing the good, the bad and the ugly of every type of treatment, including the pharmacological ones. An enlightening walk through the history of psychiatry.
December 4, 2023
Sadowsky is a historian par excellence. He reads his sources carefully yet thoroughly. He is cautious not to project his assumptions on the past but willing to draw throughlines where appropriate. It's accessible but never sacrifices complexity for that accessibility.
The only thing I can really fault the book for is an occasional skepticism that a historian's love of complexity is always the best choice. Sadowsky states his categorical opposition to reductionism – an excellent trait in historians, because history operates according to few universal laws and reductionism rarely takes you anywhere good – but never seems to recognize the use of reductionism. Unless you are very clever, several explanations are likelier to be wrong than one explanation. (To take the classic example, Linda is always more likely to be a bank teller than she is to be a bank teller and a feminist). If something unusual has happened – such as a dramatic increase in depression diagnoses – cause A is always more likely to be the case than cause A /and/ cause B.
Still, despite my skepticism that the whole picture is always necessary (as in psychoanalysis), Sadowsky makes an excellent case for bringing the virtues of historians to other contexts.
The only thing I can really fault the book for is an occasional skepticism that a historian's love of complexity is always the best choice. Sadowsky states his categorical opposition to reductionism – an excellent trait in historians, because history operates according to few universal laws and reductionism rarely takes you anywhere good – but never seems to recognize the use of reductionism. Unless you are very clever, several explanations are likelier to be wrong than one explanation. (To take the classic example, Linda is always more likely to be a bank teller than she is to be a bank teller and a feminist). If something unusual has happened – such as a dramatic increase in depression diagnoses – cause A is always more likely to be the case than cause A /and/ cause B.
Still, despite my skepticism that the whole picture is always necessary (as in psychoanalysis), Sadowsky makes an excellent case for bringing the virtues of historians to other contexts.
August 25, 2024
konunun ele alınışı beklediğimden daha az politik, daha çok ansiklopedikti ama o benim kitaba körlemesine girişimdendir. yazar tarihçi olduğu için yerli yerinde bi kronolojik akışla gitmiş ve yine de hissedilir derece kendi görüşlerini de vermişti, bu açıdan akıcı. depresyona bütünsel bakış açısı, hem tanısal ve hem tedavisel evrimi, gerekçelerin ve yorumlarının ele alınması vs. geniş bir perspektiftendi, bazı açılardan taraflılık verilse de manipülatif değil.
hem psikolojik yorumların hem farmakolojik odağının ilgimi çekmesi ve de yaşadığım deneyimlerin fikir sahibi olmama yardım ettiği bir konu olduğu için bilmediğim çok fazla şey öğrenmedim ama derinlik kattı yine de, derli topluluğunu sevdim.
çok kapsamlı ve sınırları bulanık bu konuda indirgeyerek geçilen (normal olarak) pek çok konunun derinlemesine işlendiği eserleri de çok kıymetli bir kaynakçayla verilmiş, bana biraz daha ekmek çıkar burdan.
hem psikolojik yorumların hem farmakolojik odağının ilgimi çekmesi ve de yaşadığım deneyimlerin fikir sahibi olmama yardım ettiği bir konu olduğu için bilmediğim çok fazla şey öğrenmedim ama derinlik kattı yine de, derli topluluğunu sevdim.
çok kapsamlı ve sınırları bulanık bu konuda indirgeyerek geçilen (normal olarak) pek çok konunun derinlemesine işlendiği eserleri de çok kıymetli bir kaynakçayla verilmiş, bana biraz daha ekmek çıkar burdan.
January 27, 2026
Je ne sais pas si lire une histoire de la dépression dans mon état actuel était une bonne idée. Je ne pourrais donc pas dire que ce fut une lecture "agréable", mais elle fut intéressante et enrichissante.
L'auteur, Jonathan Sadowsky, est un historien américain, spécialiste de l'histoire de la médecine et de la psychiatrie. Il propose une histoire de la dépression, de l'Antiquité à nos jours, tout en réfléchissant sur ses causes biologiques, psychologiques et sociales, la nature et l'efficacité traitements passés et actuels, et la représentation. de la dépression dans la littérature contemporaine.
L'auteur, Jonathan Sadowsky, est un historien américain, spécialiste de l'histoire de la médecine et de la psychiatrie. Il propose une histoire de la dépression, de l'Antiquité à nos jours, tout en réfléchissant sur ses causes biologiques, psychologiques et sociales, la nature et l'efficacité traitements passés et actuels, et la représentation. de la dépression dans la littérature contemporaine.
March 14, 2021
An interesting read about how depression has been seen over the years, is it a sickness or just part of being human? Are there more people with depression now, or just more diagnoses? Is there a "right" treatment? This is a readable book and, fortunately for my limited understanding, not too technical.
April 8, 2021
Easily the most nuanced, rigorous discussion of the vexing issues surrounding depression. Proves as well as anything I've read that history provides the most useful perspective on medicine and illness.
June 12, 2024
A nice book to discover the history of depression through the centuries. I found it average, as I was expecting to read more about anthropology and sociology than a chronology. And, stop taking any medication to cure your melancholy.
Want to read
August 24, 2022I like this book
April 9, 2024
En vrai j’ai trop aimé, ça m’a appris pleins de trucs je pensais pas (ça restait long quand même)
October 7, 2024
I actually only read through half of it...poorly written
August 7, 2024
Book Skipping Psychologist Eric Fromm
“MIRROR” Per Social Others (TOXIC) Results
“Unhealthily IDENTITY” Psychologist Erich Fromm The messages we receive from friends, family, colleagues, and society at large, whether in words, actions, or gestures, serve as a 🟢🟩🟢🟩MIRROR reflecting 🟢🟩aspects of ourselves that we cannot always see. These external impressions, whether positive or negative, help shape our self-image and influence how we navigate the world around us. MIRRORING PEOPLE Becomes “INTERNALIZED Belief” By Negative Toxic People. We “HEAL” By “Breaking The MIRROR” Or “Change Identity Into Positive Image Of Self” Sort Of CBT “Changed Thinking “ Broke The Mirror” View Self Positive
Historical Insights Of Depression Is Broadening Perspective Into Current Ideologies. Cognitive Thinking Transformation Healing My Own Life Issues! Depression Survivor Was Positive Experience In My Life’s Journey; Due To Became A Better Person! It Was Worth The Pain To Heal 💊Without 💥Medication 💊; And Continue Life Depression FREE! My Self-Identity Beliefs KEY To Mental Health.
“MIRROR” Per Social Others (TOXIC) Results
“Unhealthily IDENTITY” Psychologist Erich Fromm The messages we receive from friends, family, colleagues, and society at large, whether in words, actions, or gestures, serve as a 🟢🟩🟢🟩MIRROR reflecting 🟢🟩aspects of ourselves that we cannot always see. These external impressions, whether positive or negative, help shape our self-image and influence how we navigate the world around us. MIRRORING PEOPLE Becomes “INTERNALIZED Belief” By Negative Toxic People. We “HEAL” By “Breaking The MIRROR” Or “Change Identity Into Positive Image Of Self” Sort Of CBT “Changed Thinking “ Broke The Mirror” View Self Positive
Historical Insights Of Depression Is Broadening Perspective Into Current Ideologies. Cognitive Thinking Transformation Healing My Own Life Issues! Depression Survivor Was Positive Experience In My Life’s Journey; Due To Became A Better Person! It Was Worth The Pain To Heal 💊Without 💥Medication 💊; And Continue Life Depression FREE! My Self-Identity Beliefs KEY To Mental Health.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews