Understanding Depression: Feminist Psychological Perspectives

Description

Women are particularly vulnerable to depression. Understanding Depression provides an in-depth critical examination of mainstream approaches to understanding and treating depression from a feminist perspective. Janet Stoppard argues that current approaches give only partial accounts of womens' experiences of depression and concludes that a better understanding will only be achieved when womens' experiences and lived realities are considered in relation to the material and social conditions in which their everyday lives are embedded. The impact of this change in approach for modes of treatment are discussed and solutions are suggested. Understanding Depression offers new insights into the problem and its treatment. It will prove useful to those with an interest in depression and gender as well as mental health practitioners.

Janet M. Stoppard is a Professor in Psychology at the University of New Brunswick, Canada. She has worked as a clinical psychologist and has published widely in women, mental health and depression.

"This is an excellent book that will be of interest to a wide range of readers, including women who wish to know more about depression because of their own experiences with it, undergraduate and graduate students in a range of disciplines, feminist therapist and scholars interested in depression, and psychologist who want a thorough and critical overview of the literature on women and depression."- Meridith Kimball, Simon Fraser University, "Canadian Psychology