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Dr Sadowsky is a leading historian of psychiatry, and one I am proud to call him my teacher. As a psychiatry resident, I attended his lectures on history of psychiatry as part of our residency didactics and benefitted greatly from them. Sadowsky was previously interviewed for Psychiatric TimesTM in 2017 by Greg Eghigian, PhD, about his book, Electroconvulsive Therapy in America: The Anatomy of a Medical Controversy, an interview that is well worth revisiting. The present interview is about his new book The Empire of Depression: A New History. I admire Sadowsky for his ability to tackle complex and controversial issues with scholarly rigor and fair-minded appraisal, and I am delighted to have him participate in this seriesJonathan Sadowsky, PhDAftab: Before I jump into my questions, I want to give you an opportunity to introduce your book to the readers on your own terms. What are the issues that occupy you? I suppose some folks on hearing about The Empire of Depression: A New History may reflexively think, “What… another book about depression? Don’t we have enough of those already?” Perhaps in your response you can also touch on why a new history of depression was needed in your opinion.
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Sadowsky: Making sense of anything for me starts with chronology and making rough periodizations. But, as you say, depression demands multiple perspectives. I did sometimes think I was straying from my disciplinary home. But who cares? My goal was to illuminate my subject, not to show loyalty to my discipline.I have known some academics who are oddly certain that their own discipline provides the ultimate answers. Not me. I consider history a good lens among many, and I am still learning much about the others. I look forward to you and others helping me learn more philosophy.Aftab: You are clearly dissatisfied with a lot of popular critiques of depression. You write, “One thing this book is not is a long lament on the over-diagnosis of depression, and the turning of life’s normal suffering into a medical problem.” Tell us more about your dissatisfaction with this line of criticism.