Medical Anthropology

Running head: MEDICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
MEDICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
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1MEDICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
Summary of medical topic:
Depression can be defined as a mental health illness that affects the perception and
thought process of an individual. Depression generally triggers feeling of sadness and despair
and leads to a lack of interest in the activities that previously seemed pleasurable to the
individual. According to American Psychiatric Association, depression can lead to a
multitude of physical and mental health problems which might limit the ability of an
individual to work or socialise1. The American Psychiatric Association, states that the
symptoms of depression can vary from being mild to severe. The symptoms generally include
feelings of being sad or upset or in a depressed mood. In addition to this, it also includes, lack
of pleasure in performing activities that previously seemed interesting2. As stated by
Aggarwal, Krishan, the general symptoms of depression also include changes in appetite,
sleep pattern and increased fatigue3. Also, an increase in fidgeting, pacing, hand wringing or
slowed movement and speech are considered as symptoms of depression. Depression also
leads to feeling of worthlessness or guilt, difficulty in thinking or making decisions and
harbouring suicidal thoughts. As mentioned by Patten, symptoms continuing over two weeks
serve as confirmatory diagnosis of depression. Depression is also triggered by a number of
physical health issues such as vitamin deficiency, brain tumour or imbalance of the thyroid
hormone. Statistical evidence suggests that approximately 4.7% of the Canadian population
above the age of 15 years suffer from depression. Further as per Patten, 11.2% of the total
Canadian population suffers from a lifetime of Major depressive disorder4. It should be noted
1 Obeyesekere, Gananath. "Illness, culture, and meaning: Some comments on the nature of traditional
medicine." Culture and Healing in Asian Societies: Anthropological, Psychiatric, and Public Health Studies
(253–263). Cambridge: Schenkman (1978).
2 Psychiatry.org. 2019. "What Is Depression?". Psychiatry.Org.
https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/depression/what-is-depression.
3 Aggarwal, Neil Krishan. "Cultural psychiatry, medical anthropology, and the DSM-5 field trials." Medical
anthropology 32, no. 5 (2013): 393-398.
4 Patten, Scott B., Jeanne VA Williams, Dina H. Lavorato, Jian Li Wang, Keltie McDonald, and Andrew GM
Bulloch. "Major depression in Canada: what has changed over the past 10 years?." The Canadian Journal of

2MEDICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
in this context that depression is different from sadness and grief and does not dissolve with
time. The risk factors that trigger the incidence of Depression includes genetic inheritance,
environmental stressors, lower esteem and imbalance of chemical balance. The treatment for
depression varies depending on the intensity and makes use of a combination of
pharmacological and non-pharmacological therapeutic methods. In addition to this, health
education and awareness in relation to the disorder helps in curing the illness. In extreme
cases of severe depressive disorder, electroconvulsive therapy is used which makes of an
electrical stimulation to induce improvement of the symptoms.
First analysis section:
The previous paragraph has shed light on the core medical aspect of the disorder and
how the disorder is perceived by advanced medical science. However, mental health issues
such as Depression remain a social stigma and are associated with a number of prejudiced
belief and superstitious theories. In this regard, it should be noted that the field of medical
anthropology considers the social, cultural, linguistic as well as biological aspect of a
disorder so as to evaluate the impact of the disorder on the wellness of the patients2. In this
context, it should be noted that depression is also different cultural theoretical perspectives
pertaining to the prevention and treatment of the disease.
The theory of Sinhalese Buddhism suggests that in order to devise an effective
treatment of depression, it is important to focus on the specific causes that contribute to
depression5. This is in order to avoid treating the symptoms blindly without assessing the
underlying specific causes. The medical perspective states that depressive can be treated with
pharmacological treatment with the help of antidepressant medications. However, research
Psychiatry 61, no. 2 (2016): 80-85.
5 Obeyesekere, G. "Depression, Buddhism, and the work of culture in Sri Lanka. In culture and depression:
Studies in the anthropology and cross-cultural psychiatry of affect and disorder, eds. by Arthur Kleinman and
Byron J. Good, 134–152. Berkeley." (1985).