| Abstract: | Traditional models of depression have received criticism for their individualistic approach that focuses on hypothetical, unobservable, inner states or processes and attempts to abstract these processes from the context of a person's everyday life experiences. In response to this criticism, the current research advances a contrasting discursive account of depression in which depression is investigated as a socially negotiated phenomenon. Eight women and 8 men (aged 23–57 yrs) with a diagnosis of major depression were interviewed about their experiences of depression. The interviews were then discourse analyzed. Both similarities and differences in the way women and men talked about depression were observed; however, only similarities are reported in the current article. The discourse analysis shows that participants actively resisted taking blame for their depression and constructed themselves as worthy persons. The discrepancy of these results with traditional depression theory and research, in which depressed persons are described as inherently self-blaming, is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
