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

Social Science & Medicine
Bianca Brijnath, Josefine Antoniades

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.

References

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Citations

Jun 12, 2016·Qualitative Health Research·Bianca Brijnath, Josefine Antoniades
Jun 14, 2018·Early Intervention in Psychiatry·Laelia BenoitMarie R Moro
Jun 22, 2018·BMC Health Services Research·Tooba Noor MollahBianca Brijnath
May 6, 2016·Pharmacy : Journal of Pharmacy, Education and Practice·Peri J Ballantyne
Dec 17, 2019·Transcultural Psychiatry·Allen L TranNguyễn Cúc Trâm
Apr 15, 2020·Health Expectations : an International Journal of Public Participation in Health Care and Health Policy·Tharanya SeeralanAnna Levke Brütt
Oct 24, 2020·Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services·Anas H Khalifeh, Ayman M Hamdan-Mansour

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