We're currently hosting our discussions at Café Walnut, near the corner of 7th & Walnut in Olde City, just across the street from Washington Square Park. The cafe's entrance is below street level down some stairs, which can be confusing if it's your first time. Our group meets in the large room upstairs.
Since we're using the cafe's space, they ask that each person attending the meetup at least purchase a drink or snack. Please don't bring any food or drinks from outside.
The cafe is fairly easy to get to if you're using public transit. With SEPTA, take the Market-Frankford Line & get off at the 5th Street Station (corner of 5th & Market), and walk 2 blocks south on 5th and then turn right on Walnut Street and walk 2 blocks west. With PATCO, just get off at the 9th-10th & Locust stop and walk 3 blocks east & 1 block north. For those who are driving, parking in the neighborhood can be tough to find. If you can't find a spot on the street, I'd suggest parking in the Washington Square parking deck at 249 S 6th Street which is just a half block away.
IS THERE A "DEPRESSION EPIDEMIC" IN AMERICA?
UNTANGLING THE POLITICIZED CLAIMS ABOUT DEPRESSION & ITS CAUSES
INTRODUCTION:
Depression is the single most common mental disorder in the United States. The American Psychological Association reports that it directly impacts approximately 14.8 million (6.7%) American adults every year, and there’s evidence that depression is rising among teenagers as well. This isn’t a problem that is exclusive to the U.S. Experts at the World Health Organization (WHO) estimate that by 2030 mental disorders will contribute to 13% of the global burden of disease, and depression will be the largest contributor to this number. When one considers the debilitating effect of depression on productivity & its contribution to other health problems, it’s not surprising it’s now considered a major public health issue in most developed countries.
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) offers a common language and standard criteria to identify and categorize mental disorders. Depression is defined as a mental state characterized by persistent low mood, loss of interest & enjoyment in everyday activities, neurovegetative disturbance, and reduced energy, causing varying levels of social & occupational dysfunction. Here’s a link that explains the DSM criteria: https://www.psycom.net/depression-definition-dsm-5-diagnostic-criteria/
The "medical model" of mental disorders treats depression as primarily a neurophysiological issue related to genetics & brain chemistry. This model has been adopted by many psychiatrists and primary care doctors. The improved safety and effectiveness of SSRIs (such as Prozac, Paxil, and Zoloft) over the older anti-depressant drugs has enabled primary care physicians to prescribe antidepressants, which previously only psychiatrists were allowed to do. This has resulted in a surge in SSRIs over the last 20 years, with about 1 in 8 Americans using them now.
However, in recent years, some psychiatrists have raised questions over whether the medical model is sufficient for diagnosing & treating depression. Many of them find it hard to believe that there could be a purely biological basis for the apparent upsurge in depressive illness since the 1980s. This has given rise to the development of the more complex "biopsychosocial model" that considers how a variety of factors influence our mental state. Efforts to treat depression are now beginning to involve counseling & lifestyle changes, as well as medication.
Public awareness of the limitations of the "medical model" has led some disability activists to propose an entirely "social model" of mental disorders. Some argue that "depression" is merely a social construct, a pathologization of normal sadness & less cheerful personalities. Similarly, others argue that "social anxiety" and "obesity" are stigmatizations of introversion & fatness, and that's why we see them connected to "depression".
There's also the "public health approach" which doesn't deny depression's biological basis but focuses on its social etiology. Unfortunately, this often gets politicized in the media as pundits try to link the "depression epidemic" to whatever social issues their ideology has traditionally been concerned with. Thus, conservative pundits often attribute the depression epidemic to the declines in marriage & religious observance, while liberal pundits often attribute the depression epidemic to "dog-eat-dog" capitalism & discrimination.
In this discussion, we'll look at various factors that could be behind the large increase in diagnoses of depression & the prescription of anti-depressants, both worldwide & in the United States in particular. We'll also look at how the debates over depression are politicized & obscured by misleading claims, and we'll do our best to sort the truth from the spin.
RELEVANT MATERIAL FROM RELATED MEETUPS:
In January of 2018, we had a meetup entitled "The Economics of Happiness" where we looked at the UN World Happiness Report's attempt to empirically quantify & compare the aggregate happiness of countries. We discussed the Nordic values of "hygge" (coziness) & "lagom" (enough) as possible secrets to happiness, the Easterlin paradox (i.e. why industrialization & higher incomes doesn't increase aggregate happiness), the paradox of declining female happiness (i.e. white American women report a decline in happiness over the last 40 years despite income gains), and the suicide paradox (i.e. why happier societies tend to have higher suicide rates). https://www.meetup.com/Philadelphia-Political-Agnostics/events/gqxkvnyxcbcc/
The Skeptics meetup had a related discussion entitled "The Science of Happiness" where we discussed the emerging field of positive psychology that studies human happiness & well-being & Martin Seligman's PERMA model. We discussed hedonic set points & the hedonic treadmill, the link between money & happiness, the "paradox of choice" & why settling is often better than holding out, how friends can make us happier but constantly comparing ourselves to them can make us sad, and how marriage & child-rearing have paradoxical relationships with happiness. https://www.meetup.com/Philly-Skeptics/events/246018303/
Some pundits have alleged that rising rates of depression among the young may be due to shifts in parenting methods, such as highly demanding & authoritarian "tiger parenting" or the softer but overly involved type of "helicopter parenting". We looked at parenting in a meetup back in June of 2018 and found that the research suggests that parenting effects are relatively small and don't account for nearly as much of the variation in a child's life outcomes as genetics & peer effects. (That said, extreme cases of abuse or neglect do have significant negative effects on children's mental health later in life.) https://www.meetup.com/Philadelphia-Political-Agnostics/events/251066458/
Some experts have alleged that increasing depression, especially among teens, may be due to excessive internet usage & negative behavior on social media. The Skeptics have a meetup immediately prior to this one, running from 1-3pm, that will explore theories that social media is increasing status anxiety, political polarization, loneliness & bullying. To check out the discussion outline & RSVP, go here: https://www.meetup.com/Philly-Skeptics/events/ffkqkqyzfbfb/
