Silencing the Self Across Cultures: Depression and Gender in the Social World

Winner of the 2011 Ursula Gielen Global Psychology Book Award!This award is presented by APA Division 52 to the authors or editors of a book that makes the greatest contribution to psychology as an international discipline and profession.This international volume offers new perspectives on social and psychological aspects of depression. The twenty-one contributors hailing from thirteen countries represent contexts with very different histories, political and economic structures, and gender role disparities. Authors rely on Silencing the Self theory, which details the negative psychological effects that result when individuals silence themselves in close relationships, and the importance of social context in precipitating depression. Specific patterns of thought on how to achieve closeness in relationships (self-silencing schema) are known to predict depression. This book breaks new ground by demonstrating that the link between depressive symptoms and self-silencing occurs across a range of cultures. Silencing the Self Across Cultures explains why women's depression is more widespread than men's, and why the treatment of depression lies in understanding that a person's individual psychology is inextricably related to the social world and close relationships. Several chapters describe the transformative possibilities of community-driven movements for disadvantaged women that support healing through a recovery of voice, as well as the need to counter violations of human rights as a means of reducing women's risk of depression. Bringing the work of these researchers together in one collection furthers international dialogue about critical social factors that affect the rising rates of depression around the globe.

Table of Contents:
Foreword: Silence No More Judith Worell Section I: Setting the Stage: Social, Biomedical, and Ethical Issues in Understanding Women's Depression Chapter 1: Introduction: Culture, Self-Silencing, and Depression: A Contextual-Relational Perspective Dana Crowley Jack and Alisha Ali Chapter 2: The Social Causes of Women's Depression: A Question of Rights Violated? Jill Astbury Chapter 3: Drugs Don't Talk: Do Medication and Biological Psychiatry Contribute to Silencing the Self? Richard A. Gordon Chapter 4: The Itinerant Researcher: Ethical and Methodological Issues in Conducting Cross-Cultural Mental Health Research Joseph E. Trimble, María R. Scharrón-del Río, and Guillermo Bernal Section II: Self-Silencing and Depression across Cultures Introduction to Section II: On the Critical Importance of Relationships for Women's Well-Being Judith Jordan Chapter 5: Women's Self-Silencing and Depression in the Socio-Cultural Context of Germany Tanja Zoellner and Susanne Hedlund Chapter 6: Gender as Culture: The Meanings of Self-Silencing in Women and Men Linda Smolak Chapter 7: 'I Don't Express My Feelings to Anyone': How Self-Silencing Relates to Depression and Gender in Nepal Dana Jack, Bindu Pokharel, and Usha Subba Chapter 8: Silencing the Self across Generations and Gender in Finland Airi Hautamäki Chapter 9: The Meaning of Self-Silencing in Polish Women Krystyna Drat-Ruszczak Chapter 10: Exploring the Immigrant Experience through Self-Silencing Theory and the Full Frame Approach: The Case of Caribbean Immigrant Women in Canada and the U.S. Alisha Ali Chapter 11: Deconstructing Gendered Discourses of Love, Power, and Violence in Intimate Relationships: Portuguese Women's Experiences Sofia Neves and Conceição Nogueira Chapter 12: Authentic Self-Expression: Gender, Ethnicity, and Culture Anjoo Sikka, Linda (Gratch) Vaden-Goad, and Lisa K. Waldner Chapter 13: Silencing the Self and Personality Vulnerabilities Associated with Depression Avi Besser, Gordon L. Flett, and Paul L. Hewitt Chapter 14: Sociopolitical, Gender, and Cultural Factors in the Conceptualization and Treatment of Depression among Haitian Women Guerda Nicolas, Bridget Hirsch, and Clelia Beltrame Section III: The Health Effects of Self-Silencing Introduction to Section III: Empowering Depressed Women: The Importance of a Feminist Lens Laura S. Brown Chapter 15: Supporting Voice in Women Living with HIV/AIDS Rosanna F. DeMarco Chapter 16: Facilitating Women's Development through the Illness of Cancer: Depression, Self-Silencing, and Self-Care Mary Sormanti Chapter 17: Eating Disorders and Self-Silencing: A Function-Focused Approach to Treatment Josie Geller, Sujatha Srikameswaran, and Stephanie Cassin Chapter 18: Self-Silencing and the Risk of Heart Disease and Death in Women: The Framingham Offspring Study Elaine D. Eaker and Margaret Kelly-Hayes Chapter 19: Silencing the Heart: Women in Treatment for Cardiovascular Disease Maria I. Medved Chapter 20: Disruption of the Silenced Self: The Case of Pre-Menstrual Syndrome Jane M. Ussher and Janette Perz Chapter 21: 'I Wasn't being True to Myself': Women's Narratives of Postpartum Depression Natasha S. Mauthner Chapter 22: Seeking Safety with Undesirable Outcomes: Women's Self-Silencing in Abusive Intimate Relationships and Implications for Healthcare Stephanie J. Woods COMMENTARY Janet M. Stoppard Appendix A: The Silencing the Self Scale

About the Author :
Dana C. Jack is Professor at Fairhaven College of Interdisciplinary Studies at Western Washington University. Her research examines women's depression and anger in the US and internationally, and qualitative research methods. She was a Fulbright Scholar to Nepal in 2001, and is the author of three books, including Silencing the Self: Women and Depression. Alisha Ali is Associate Professor in the Department of Applied Psychology at New York University. Her research examines social influences on women's depression, including the effects of emotional abuse, racism, and harassment. She is currently the principal investigator on a series of studies examining economic empowerment for survivors of domestic violence.

Review :
"I could not put down this highly interesting volume of essays that provides some of the most powerful and stunning insights into a reframing of women's depression! I strongly recommend this impressive book for all providers of health services as well as for educators and policy makers." --Melba J. T. Vasquez, President, American Psychological Association "This volume is perhaps the most powerful and poignant account of the silencing of women's voices across time and culture that has been published. It is a book that informs. It is a book that enlightens. It is a book to be treasured, and to be remembered long after it has been read and placed on the shelf." --Anthony J. Marsella, Professor Emeritus, Department of Psychology, University of Hawaii "The authors in this volume listen to women with a methodological tuning fork, precise and sensitive to women and context, and they read women's depression like a smoke alarm on cultural abuses of power. In the caring and delicate hands of Jack and Ali, women's narrations of depression signal a global call for justice and gendered human rights." --Michelle Fine, Distinguished Professor of Social Psychology, Women's Studies, and Urban Education, Graduate Center, City University of New York "This book demonstrates the importance of self-silencing in the lives of women (and men) in many societies. The relationship to depression is useful for clinicians and researchers, and shows a means of getting at clinically relevant cultural information in a disciplined and practical way." --Arthur Kleinman, MD, Esther and Sidney Rabb Professor of Anthropology, Harvard University, and Professor of Medical Anthropology and Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School "A vivid and scholarly portrayal of how gender and cultural influence interact to shape the expression of mood disorder." --Zindel V. Segal, Cameron Wilson Chair in Depression Studies and Professor of Psychiatry, University of Toronto "What a stunning achievement! In the face of a medical establishment that views and treats depression as primarily a problem of faulty neurochemistry, this compelling book argues persuasively (and with solid evidence) for the powerful role of oppression in shaping women's mental health. This volume is required reading for mental health providers, scholars, and activists interested in understanding and improving women's lives." --Lisa A. Goodman, Professor, Department of Counseling and Developmental Psychology, Boston College "Overall, Jack and Ali's book is fertile with opportunities for psychotherapists. Each chapter offers numerous implications for prevention, intervention and treatment. I echo the book's jacket quote by Lisa Goodman, PhD, that 'this book should be required reading for mental health providers, scholars and activists interested in understanding and improving women's lives'...The gift of this book is its benefit to everyone." --Penelope L Norton, Voices: The Art of Science of Psychotherapy "Silencing the Self Across Cultures: Depression and Gender in the Social World is a valuable contribution to our profession. It is an academic work that builds upon previous research." --PsycCRITIQUES "A final commentary summarizes the research limitations of the constructs of self-silencing, depression, and gender, and calls for continued research on conditions that promote depression. An excellent review of current research springing from second-wave feminism. Summing Up: Highly recommended. " --Choice "This thorough and impressive book is partly all about connection between people, and what happens when it's missing or faulty....There is a lot to digest in this volume, but generally it is written in an approachable style, notwithstanding the statistical analyses in some chapters. The inclusion of narratives from women is welcome, giving voice to the research findings and providing a human, grounding touch. It is not written for the lay person, but more for practitioners, academics and researchers in the field." --Metapsychology "Although the length and density of this volume may be daunting, it reminds readers of the complexity of women's experience and serves as excellent resource forteaching, planning research, and organizing effective interventions with diverse groups of women and men." --Carolyn Zerbe Enns, PhD, Psychology of Women Quarterly