Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019
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Date of Graduation
Spring 2016
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts (BA)
Department
Department of Sociology and Anthropology
Advisor(s)
Kimiko Tanaka
Abstract
Through the use of word association tasks and semi-structured interviews, the present study gathered information on the current dominant understandings of “depression” in America and “yuutsu” and “utsubyou” in Japan. The results were compared to the findings of a similar study that was conducted in the mid 1970s that aimed to find connections between language and the subjective experience of depression. In comparing the responses from the 1970s and the present, it was found that the dominant understanding of depression has been subject to change. These changes can be attributed to larger shifts in the sociopolitical climate, the proliferation of the pharmaceutical industry, and the medicalization, pharmaceuticalization, and commercialization of everyday distress in both Japan and the United States.
Recommended Citation
Fogleman, Elyssa M., "Sickness of the soul: Language mediated understandings of depression across cultures" (2016). Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019. 166.
https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/honors201019/166
