Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction : Culture, Self-Silencing, and Depression : A Contextual-Relational Perspective / Dana C. Jack and Alisha Ali -- The Social Causes of Women's Depression : A Question of Rights Violated? / Jill Astbury -- Drugs Don't Talk : Do Medication and Biological Psychiatry Contribute to Silencing the Self? / Richard A. Gordon -- The Itinerant Researcher : Ethical and Methodological Issues in Conducting Cross-Cultural Mental Health Research / Joseph E. Trimble, Maria R. Scharron-del Rio, and Guillermo Bernal -- On the Critical Importance of Relationships for Women's Well-Being / Judith Jordan -- Women's Self-Silencing and Depression in the Socio-Cultural Context of Germany / Tanja Zoellner and Susanne Hedlund -- Gender as Culture : The Meanings of Self-Silencing in Women and Men / Linda Smolak -- 'Don't Express My Feelings to Anyone' : How Self-Silencing Relates to Depression and Gender in Nepal / Dana Jack, Bindu Pokhare, and Usha Subba -- Silencing the Self across Generations and Gender in Finland / Airi Hautamaki -- The Meaning of Self-Silencing in Polish Women / Krystyna Drat-Ruszczak -- 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 -- Deconstructing Gendered Discourses of Love, Power, and Violence in Intimate Relationships : Portuguese Women's Experiences / Sofia Neves and Conceicao Nogueira -- Authentic Self-Expression : Gender, Ethnicity, and Culture / Anjoo Sikka, Linda (Gratch) Vaden-Goad, and Lisa K. Waldner -- Silencing the Self and Personality Vulnerabilities Associated with Depression / Avi Besser, Gordon L. Flett, and Paul L. Hewitt -- Sociopolitical, Gender and Cultural Factors in the Conceptualization and Treatment of Depression among Haitian Women / Guerda Nicolas, Bridget Hirsch, and Clelia Beltrame -- Empowering Depressed Women : The Importance of a Feminist Lens / Laura S. Brown -- Supporting Voice in Women Living with HIV/AIDS / Rosanna F. DeMarco -- Facilitating Women's Development through the Illness of Cancer: Depression, Self-Silencing, and Self-Care / Mary Sormanti -- Eating Disorders and Self-Silencing : A Function-Focused Approach to Treatment / Josie Geller, Sujatha Srikameswaran, and Stephanie Cassin -- Self-Silencing and the Risk of Heart Disease and Death in Women : The Framingham Offspring Study / Elaine D. Eaker and Margaret Kelly-Hayes -- Silencing the Heart : Women in Treatment for Cardiovascular Disease / Maria I. Medved -- Disruption of the Silenced Self : The Case of Pre-Menstrual Syndrome / Jane M. Ussher and Janette Perz -- 'I Wasn't being True to Myself ': Women's Narratives of Postpartum Depression / Natasha S. Mauthner -- Seeking Safety with Undesirable Outcomes : Women's Self-Silencing in Abusive Intimate Relationships and Implications for Healthcare / Stephanie J. Woods / Commentary / Janet M. Stoppard.

This international volume offers new perspectives on social and psychological aspects of the complex dynamic of depression. The twenty-one contributors from thirteen countries - Australia, Canada, Finland, Germany, Haiti, India, Israel, Nepal, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Scotland, and the United States - 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 when individuals silence themselves in close relationships and the importance of the social context in precipitating depression. Specific patterns of thought about how to achieve closeness in relationships (self-silencing schema) are known to predict depression. This book breaks new ground by demonstrating that the linkage of depressive symptoms with self-silencing occurs across a range of cultures. We offer a new view of gender differences in depression situated in the formation and consequences of self-silencing, including differing motivational aims, norms of masculinity and femininity, and the broader social context of gender inequality. The book offers evidence regarding why women's depression is more wide-spread 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. Authors examine not only gender differences in depression but also related aspects of mental and physical illness, including treatments specific to women. Several chapters describe the transformative possibilities of community-driven movements for disadvantaged women that support healing through a recovery of voice, and describe the need for systemic and structural changes 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.