A Mind Diseased

Revision with unchanged content. Sociologists of medicine have become increasingly interested in mental health over the last two decades (Pilgrim/Rogers, 2005). Known as the ¿common cold¿ of mental illness, depression affects millions around the globe. The social understanding of depression has been shaped by a phenomenon known as medicalization. The medicalization of depression is particularly evident on SSRI websites. SSRIs (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors) are a popular class of antidepressants used to treat depression. Pharmaceutical companies who manufacture these medications now advertise their products on the Internet, an increasingly popular source for health information. This thesis is a critical, empirical investigation of the medicalization of depression on SSRI websites. Five major research questions guide this study. How is depression portrayed on the websites? What are the means used to construct this portrayal? Who is the apparent target audience? What assumptions are made about this audience? What is absent from or silent in the websites? These questions are answered using an analytical framework. This study reveals that medicalization has a strong impact on the portrayal of depression on the websites, and is the major perspective from which the issue is approached.