Understand the Social Roots of Depression

Society often frames depression as an individual problem, attributing it solely to personal factors such as chemical imbalances or family history. This perspective ignores the significant influence of societal conditions on mental health. Mark Fisher argues that we neglect the impact of our environment on mental well-being, as evidenced by varying mental illness rates across different countries and the improvement of individuals' mental health when their surroundings change. By treating depression purely as a private issue needing pharmaceutical solutions, we overlook the structural elements contributing to the crisis in mental health within the Western world.