Depression has taken over the world. Even 150 years ago, the word “depression” was used to describe only a pessimistic mood. However, in the mid-20th century, as European empires collapsed, new Western clinical models and mental health treatments spread throughout the world. Today, one in 25 people on our planet is diagnosed with Depression. Revealing the continuity of human suffering throughout history, psychiatrist Jonathan Sadowski shows how different cultures described severe mental pain and how they tried to alleviate it. A range of treatments, both ancient and modern, does reduce suffering, but a final cure is still unattainable. This book attempts to bring together all the most important information about depression and identify key phenomena that will help to understand the scale of the epidemic and suggest possible ways to defeat it. The publisher's design has been preserved in PDF A4 format.