Addressing individualisation in depression: Towards a socially informed empowerment

Abstract

Albeit a vastly researched topic, depression remains a highly controversial subject in the literature. In this chapter, we focus on one source of controversy, namely, the role of the individual in the aetiology and treatment of the condition. Specifically, we examine how patient accountability in treatment is viewed by some in terms of patient empowerment while others warn against its neoliberal, individualising ethos. Data from our research on understandings of depression among Greek-Cypriot patients are used to illustrate the individualisation critique and illuminate a dead-end in the current literature. Particularly, we argue that although empowerment practices run the risk of individualising depression, the alternatives offered by critics of individualisation could victimise patients and deny agency. Therefore, we propose that moving forwards, research should focus on promoting a more socially informed empowerment that aims to maintain agency, but not at the expense of wider social aspects of depression. Implications of this socially informed empowerment and suggestions for how it may be achieved are discussed.