Abstract

AGUIRRE BAZTAN, Ángel. Anthropology of depression. Rev. Mal-Estar Subj. [online]. 2008, vol.8, n.3, pp. 563-601. ISSN 1518-6148.

Depression is characterized by a "vital sinking", in which the being suffers in its entirety, suffers by living. Depression is universal, but its symptomatic manifestations differs in the many cultures. In the west, depression constitutes the most important epidemiologic phenomenon, which tends to grow. We could say that frustration derived from western individualism leads to depression, and then to drug addiction. Therefore, studying depression allows us to understand the present day's man from his most frangible dimension, as a practical, mortal being.

Keywords : depression; culture; loss; melancholy; vital sinking.

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