Main description:

This international volume offers new perspectives on social and psychological aspects of depression. The twenty-one contributors hailing from thirteen countries represent contexts with very different histories, political and economic structures, and gender role disparities. Authors rely on Silencing the Self theory, which details the negative psychological effects that result when individuals silence themselves in close relationships, and the importance of social
context in precipitating depression. Specific patterns of thought on how to achieve closeness in relationships (self-silencing schema) are known to predict depression. This book breaks new ground by demonstrating that the link between depressive symptoms and self-silencing occurs across a range of
cultures.

Silencing the Self Across Cultures explains why women's depression is more widespread than men's, and why the treatment of depression lies in understanding that a person's individual psychology is inextricably related to the social world and close relationships. Several chapters describe the transformative possibilities of community-driven movements for disadvantaged women that support healing through a recovery of voice, as well as the need to counter violations of human rights as a means of
reducing women's risk of depression. Bringing the work of these researchers together in one collection furthers international dialogue about critical social factors that affect the rising rates of depression around the globe.

Contents:

Foreword: Silence No More ; Judith Worell ; Section I: Setting the Stage: Social, Biomedical, and Ethical Issues in Understanding Women's Depression ; Chapter 1: Introduction: Culture, Self-Silencing, and Depression: A Contextual-Relational Perspective ; Dana Crowley Jack and Alisha Ali ; Chapter 2: The Social Causes of Women's Depression: A Question of Rights Violated? ; Jill Astbury ; Chapter 3: Drugs Don't Talk: Do Medication and Biological Psychiatry Contribute to Silencing the Self? ; Richard A. Gordon ; Chapter 4: The Itinerant Researcher: Ethical and Methodological Issues in Conducting Cross-Cultural Mental Health Research ; Joseph E. Trimble, Maria R. Scharron-del Rio, and Guillermo Bernal ; Section II: Self-Silencing and Depression across Cultures ; Introduction to Section II: On the Critical Importance of Relationships for Women's Well-Being ; Judith Jordan ; Chapter 5: Women's Self-Silencing and Depression in the Socio-Cultural Context of Germany ; Tanja Zoellner and Susanne Hedlund ; Chapter 6: Gender as Culture: The Meanings of Self-Silencing in Women and Men ; Linda Smolak ; Chapter 7: 'I Don't Express My Feelings to Anyone': How Self-Silencing Relates to Depression and Gender in Nepal ; Dana Jack, Bindu Pokharel, and Usha Subba ; Chapter 8: Silencing the Self across Generations and Gender in Finland ; Airi Hautamaki ; Chapter 9: The Meaning of Self-Silencing in Polish Women ; Krystyna Drat-Ruszczak ; Chapter 10: Exploring the Immigrant Experience through Self-Silencing Theory and the Full Frame Approach: The Case of Caribbean Immigrant Women in Canada and the U.S. ; Alisha Ali ; Chapter 11: Deconstructing Gendered Discourses of Love, Power, and Violence in Intimate Relationships: Portuguese Women's Experiences ; Sofia Neves and Conceicao Nogueira ; Chapter 12: Authentic Self-Expression: Gender, Ethnicity, and Culture ; Anjoo Sikka, Linda (Gratch) Vaden-Goad, and Lisa K. Waldner ; Chapter 13: Silencing the Self and Personality Vulnerabilities Associated with Depression ; Avi Besser, Gordon L. Flett, and Paul L. Hewitt ; Chapter 14: Sociopolitical, Gender, and Cultural Factors in the Conceptualization and Treatment of Depression among Haitian Women ; Guerda Nicolas, Bridget Hirsch, and Clelia Beltrame ; Section III: The Health Effects of Self-Silencing ; Introduction to Section III: Empowering Depressed Women: The Importance of a Feminist Lens ; Laura S. Brown ; Chapter 15: Supporting Voice in Women Living with HIV/AIDS ; Rosanna F. DeMarco ; Chapter 16: Facilitating Women's Development through the Illness of Cancer: Depression, Self-Silencing, and Self-Care ; Mary Sormanti ; Chapter 17: Eating Disorders and Self-Silencing: A Function-Focused Approach to Treatment ; Josie Geller, Sujatha Srikameswaran, and Stephanie Cassin ; Chapter 18: Self-Silencing and the Risk of Heart Disease and Death in Women: The Framingham Offspring Study ; Elaine D. Eaker and Margaret Kelly-Hayes ; Chapter 19: Silencing the Heart: Women in Treatment for Cardiovascular Disease ; Maria I. Medved ; Chapter 20: Disruption of the Silenced Self: The Case of Pre-Menstrual Syndrome ; Jane M. Ussher and Janette Perz ; Chapter 21: 'I Wasn't being True to Myself': Women's Narratives of Postpartum Depression ; Natasha S. Mauthner ; Chapter 22: Seeking Safety with Undesirable Outcomes: Women's Self-Silencing in Abusive Intimate Relationships and Implications for Healthcare ; Stephanie J. Woods ; COMMENTARY ; Janet M. Stoppard ; Appendix A: The Silencing the Self Scale