Supplementing the
medical model of
depression, many researchers have begun to conceptualize ways in which the historical legacies of
racism and
colonialism create depressive conditions. Given the lived experiences of marginalized peoples, ranging from conditions of
migration,
class stratification,
cultural genocide,
labor exploitation
Forced labour, or unfree labour, is any work relation, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will with the threat of destitution, detention, violence including death, or other forms of e ...
, and
social immobility, depression can be seen as a "rational response to global conditions", according to
Ann Cvetkovich
Ann Luja Cvetkovich (born 1957) is a Professor and the Director of the Pauline Jewett Institute of Women's and Gender Studies at Carleton University in Ottawa. Until 2019, she was the Ellen Clayton Garwood Centennial Professor of English and Profes ...
.
Psychogeographical depression overlaps somewhat with the theory of "deprejudice", a portmanteau of depression and
prejudice proposed by Cox, Abramson, Devine, and Hollon in 2012, who argue for an integrative approach to studying the often comorbid experiences. Cox, Abramson, Devine, and Hollon are concerned with the ways in which social
stereotype
In social psychology, a stereotype is a generalized belief about a particular category of people. It is an expectation that people might have about every person of a particular group. The type of expectation can vary; it can be, for example ...
s are often
internalized, creating negative
self-stereotypes that then produce depressive symptoms.
Unlike the theory of "deprejudice", a psychogeographical theory of depression attempts to broaden study of the subject beyond an individual experience to one produced on a societal scale, seeing particular manifestations of depression as rooted in dispossession; historical legacies of
genocide,
slavery, and colonialism are productive of segregation, both material and psychic material deprivation, and concomitant circumstances of violence, systemic exclusion, and lack of access to legal protections. The demands of navigating these circumstances compromise the resources available to a population to seek comfort, health, stability, and sense of security. The historical memory of this
trauma conditions the psychological health of future generations, making psychogeographical depression an
intergenerational experience as well.
This work is supported by recent studies in genetic science which has demonstrated an
epigenetic
In biology, epigenetics is the study of stable phenotypic changes (known as ''marks'') that do not involve alterations in the DNA sequence. The Greek prefix '' epi-'' ( "over, outside of, around") in ''epigenetics'' implies features that are "o ...
link between the trauma suffered by
Holocaust survivors and the genetic reverberations for subsequent generations. Likewise, research by scientists at
Emory University suggests that memories of trauma can be inherited, rendering offspring vulnerable to psychological predispositions for
stress disorders,
schizophrenia, and
PTSD.
Vacant lot greening and mood
A 2018 study asked low income residents of
Philadelphia "how often they felt nervous, hopeless, restless, depressed and worthless."
As an experimental mental health intervention, trash was removed from vacant lots. Some of the vacant lots were "greened", with plantings of trees, grass, and small fences. Residents near the "greened" lots who had incomes below the poverty line reported a decrease in feelings of depression of 68%, while residents with incomes above the poverty line reported a decrease of 41%. Removing trash from vacant lots without installing landscaping did not have an observable mental health impact.
See also
*
Collective trauma
*
Historical trauma
References
{{reflist
Depression (mood)