Allergic
Reactions
When Thomas
Jefferson determined the "pursuit of happiness" to be
one of humankind's unalienable rights, he could not have foreseen
the consequences of dangling this elusive proverbial carrot under
the noses of subsequent generations. For the average proponent
of free market economics, and by extension the average consumer,
this phrase is synonymous with the accumulation of capital. If
this notion were rooted in truth, one would expect the beneficiaries
of the most successful marketplace in history-the American middle-class-to
be living in a veritable state of pure ecstasy. Since the end
of World War II, almost every measurable indicator of quality
of life among the middle-class has increased. Figures for per-capita
income, longevity, home size, cars per driver, highest degree
earned, and IQ scores have consistently shot upward and yet it
seems happiness has flat lined. Not only has the economic growth
of the last fifty years done nothing to improve subjective well-being,
it seems to be correlated with a shocking jump in the number of
people who suffer some form of "unipolar" depression.
Adjusting for population growth, ten times as many people in Western
nations experience depression than did half a century ago. In
fact, it seems the main triggers of depression and addiction-stresses
induced by social isolation and dislocation-are necessary results
of liberal economic policy.
What most of
us know about depression we've learned from the multi-billion
dollar pharmaceutical industry. We've seen the animated Zoloft
commercials showing two nerves with chemicals moving between them.
The voiceover tells us, "While the cause is unknown, depression
may be related to an imbalance of naturally occurring chemicals
between nerve cells in the brain." At the top of the animation
the Zoloft logo is shown as the announcer continues, "Zoloft,
a prescription medicine, works to correct this imbalance."
1988 marked the advent SSRI antidepressants like Pfizer's Zoloft,
believed to fight depression by increasing levels of serotonin
and other neurotransmitters. Pfizer, Eli Lilly, and other large
pharmaceutical companies spend more than twice as much on marketing
than research and development, and their ad campaigns would have
us believe depression is merely a biological disorder. Increasingly,
however, studies have demonstrated that while some may be genetically
prone to experience depression, the triggers of this ailment are
largely the result of environmental factors.
Bruce McEwen,
director of the neurobiology lab at Rockefeller University has
discovered animals undergoing repeated stress, especially early
in life, experience neurodegenerative changes in their brain chemistry.
Animals subjected to stress resulting from prolonged social isolation
experience damage to neurons in the hippocampus which can result
in an increased sensitivity to future stress and depression. If
social isolation results in depression, it should come as no surprise
it is the second most disabling ailment in the West. American
consumer culture requires that we define our individuality through
the purchase of material goods, unfettered by the family obligations,
ties of friendship, community responsibilities, and charitable
feelings that lead to strong social relationships. Martin Seligman,
a psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania and past president
of the American Psychological Association, has listed rampant
individualism and runaway consumerism as leading causes of depression.
A study conducted
by William Vega, a public health researcher at Rutgers University,
confirms how a culture built on consumerism can become hazardous
for those who experience it for the first time. Upon studying
recent immigrants to the U.S. from Mexico, Vega discovered they
were much healthier than the Americans they settled among, with
half the rates of psychological disorder. However, their Mexican
heritage-grounded in a history of strong family ties-didn't afford
them protection for long. During their first 13 years in the U.S.,
their chance of developing a disorder in their lifetime was 18
percent. Unfortunately, after 13 years their rates of depression,
anxiety and drug problems had risen to 32 percent-the same level
as the general population. For Mexican-Americans born in the U.S.,
the rate of those afflictions soared to 49 percent.
The growing
tide of social isolationism and erosion of community ties in America
was brought to mainstream attention in 1995, when Robert Putnam
published his essay "Bowling Alone," in the Journal
of Democracy. In his essay, and in a book with the same name,
Putnam traces declining trends of community involvement for the
past few decades. He offers a variety of explanations for why
this may be occurring, including the rise of the "TV generation."
More and more, Americans are retreating inward, satisfying their
needs for social interaction through the ingestion mass media
and manufactured entertainment. Other influences Putman cites
are: the breakup of the traditional "nuclear family"
in exchange for two career households, growing suburbanization
and commuting, modern time and financial pressures, and corporate
globalization. Putman goes on to make the connection between the
disappearance of "social capital" and well-being. Citing
an array of psychological studies, Putman concludes, "The
positive contributions to health made by social integration and
social support rival in strength the detrimental contributions
of well-established biomedical risk factors like cigarette smoking,
obesity, elevated blood pressure, and physical inactivity."
Others would
contend the stage was set for our current mental health crisis
long before television became a regular aspect Western life. Bruce
Alexander, addiction specialist and professor of psychology at
Simon Fraser University, believes free market society has manufactured
displacement and social isolation since its inception. In his
brilliant report, "The Roots of Addiction in Free Market
Society," Alexander offers a number of historical and modern
examples illustrating displacement caused by strict adherence
to free market principals. In order to achieve a full-blown free
market society in England by the early 19th century, massive,
forced relocations of rural farmers to urban slums were necessary.
Forced dislocation spread outward from England, with the "clearances"
of the clan society in the Scottish highlands, and the settlement
of Australia via the "transportation" of convict labor.
In the New World, slave labor and the destruction of native culture
were necessary in order to sustain North America's new economy.
Alexander traces this history of dislocation to modern Vancouver,
the most drug-addicted city in Canada. While dislocation is common
in urban areas, Vancouver's is extreme. The population is comprised
by diverse immigrants, many of whom left their families and cultures
behind for jobs in the logging, fishing, and mining industries.
Alexander contends that as a result of such dislocation, addiction-not
necessarily to drugs, but to material pursuits as well-is the
general condition of Western society and is being exported to
the developing world.
It isn't hard
to see globalization is entwined with mental illness. "Rapid
urbanization, chaotic modernization and economic restructuring
have left many developing countries reeling. Increased rates of
violence, drug and alcohol abuse, and suicide have accompanied
disruptions in cultural practices, social routines, and traditional
work and family roles," state Arthur Kleinman and Alex Cohen
in their essay, "Psychiatry's Global Challenge." The
challenge they speak of is the formulation of a psychological
perspective that explains the cultural aspects of mental illness
and depression.
Is any of this information really that unexpected? Not to evolutionary
psychologists, who are sketching the contours of the mind as designed
by natural selection. By contrasting the modern environment with
the "ancestral environment" humans evolved in, evolutionary
psychologists hope to discover the roots of mental disorders.
Because cooperation improves chances for survival, it seems our
minds are actually hardwired to work their best in socially intimate
settings. While it is true the anthropological record has disproved
Jacques Rousseau's notion of the "noble savage," mental
illness was almost unheard of in hunter-gatherer societies. Human
beings have always been violent and competitive, but depression
and addiction are relatively new developments. After all, doesn't
it make sense that the human brain elevates the stress response
in times of prolonged social isolation? A lone individual, separated
from their tribe in the ancestral world would have a much better
chance at survival if they were constantly on edge, and feelings
of depression would eventually spur them build the new social
ties necessary for ideal brain function. The displacement required
by unregulated economic markets prevents consumers from forming
the types of strong social ties necessary for our well-being,
thereby cementing our addiction to materialism. As long as we
refuse to admit the ties between culture and mental illness, all
the antidepressants in the world won't make a bit of difference.
For a list of
150 ways you can become more socially involved visit: www.bettertogether.org/150ways.htm
Written
By Jason Glover
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