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“I'm running my depression:” Self-management of depression in neoliberal Australia

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  • Brijnath, Bianca
  • Antoniades, Josefine

Abstract

The current study examines how the neoliberal imperative to self-manage has been taken up by patients, focusing specifically on Indian-Australians and Anglo-Australians living with depression in Australia. We use Nikolas Rose's work on governmentality and neoliberalism to theorise our study and begin by explicating the links between self-management, neoliberalism and the Australian mental health system. Using qualitative methods, comprising 58 in-depth interviews, conducted between May 2012 and May 2013, we argue that participants practices of self-management included reduced use of healthcare services, self-medication and self-labour. Such practices occurred over time, informed by unsatisfactory interactions with the health system, participants confidence in their own agency, and capacity to craft therapeutic strategies. We argue that as patients absorbed and enacted neoliberal norms, a disconnect was created between the policy rhetoric of self-management, its operationalisation in the health system and patient understandings and practices of self-management. Such a disconnect, in turn, fosters conditions for risky health practices and poor health outcomes.

Suggested Citation

  • Brijnath, Bianca & Antoniades, Josefine, 2016. "“I'm running my depression:” Self-management of depression in neoliberal Australia," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 1-8.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:152:y:2016:i:c:p:1-8
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.01.022
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Crawshaw, Paul, 2012. "Governing at a distance: Social marketing and the (bio) politics of responsibility," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(1), pages 200-207.
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    4. Bianca Brijnath & Josefine Antoniades & Jon Adams, 2015. "Investigating Patient Perspectives on Medical Returns and Buying Medicines Online in Two Communities in Melbourne, Australia: Results from a Qualitative Study," The Patient: Patient-Centered Outcomes Research, Springer;International Academy of Health Preference Research, vol. 8(2), pages 229-238, April.
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    6. Teghtsoonian, Katherine, 2009. "Depression and mental health in neoliberal times: A critical analysis of policy and discourse," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 69(1), pages 28-35, July.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Shih, P. & Worth, H. & Travaglia, J. & Kelly-Hanku, A., 2017. "Pastoral power in HIV prevention: Converging rationalities of care in Christian and medical practices in Papua New Guinea," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 193(C), pages 51-58.
    3. Susan L. Prescott & Alan C. Logan, 2017. "Down to Earth: Planetary Health and Biophilosophy in the Symbiocene Epoch," Challenges, MDPI, vol. 8(2), pages 1-22, August.

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