From Mad in Greece: If hysteria was once the emblematic disorder of the Belle Époque , and anxiety disorders the necessary complement to Western post-war prosperity, depression is the condition that remains so widespread because it is perhaps the perfect inversion of the basic structure of the neoliberal psyche. Where neoliberalism proposes optimism, “positive thinking,” the individual as master of his or her own future, depression opposes pessimism, dark colors, the individual as incapable not only of carrying out grandiose plans but even of getting out of bed. This is perhaps why depression is the last experience in our culture for which silence is still considered acceptable. Not out of sensitivity; out of embarrassment.
Read the full article here and the English translation here.
