The Medicalization of Depression

Depression is a very vague concept. How do we determine if someone is depressed? What does depression even mean, and how is it best prevented and treated? The realities of depression veer sharply from how the medical industrial complex would like you to think about it. They have designed screening tools and have incorporated them into the quality indicators required for all doctors to complete. Then, of course, we have to treat those who test positive, typically with drugs. And is that not the point of screening, to medicalize what is often normal emotional fluctuations in our lives, and then to sell people medicine? We will discuss why such screening is flawed, why treatment is dangerous, and how we have all been sold yet another medical myth that profits many and harms many more.