Dispossession, oppression, and depression

Supplementing the medical model of depression, many researchers have begun to conceptualize ways in which the historical legacies of racism and colonialism create depressive conditions. Given the lived experiences of marginalized peoples, ranging from conditions of migration, class stratification, cultural genocide, labor exploitation, and social immobility, depression can be seen as a "rational response to global conditions", according to Ann Cvetkovich.[1]

Psychogeographical depression overlaps somewhat with the theory of "deprejudice", a portmanteau of depression and prejudice proposed by Cox, Abramson, Devine, and Hollon in 2012,[2] who argue for an integrative approach to studying the often comorbid experiences. Cox, Abramson, Devine, and Hollon are concerned with the ways in which social stereotypes are often internalized, creating negative self-stereotypes that then produce depressive symptoms.

Unlike the theory of "deprejudice", a psychogeographical theory of depression attempts to broaden study of the subject beyond an individual experience to one produced on a societal scale, seeing particular manifestations of depression as rooted in dispossession; historical legacies of genocide, slavery, and colonialism are productive of segregation, both material and psychic material deprivation,[3] and concomitant circumstances of violence, systemic exclusion, and lack of access to legal protections. The demands of navigating these circumstances compromise the resources available to a population to seek comfort, health, stability, and sense of security. The historical memory of this trauma conditions the psychological health of future generations, making psychogeographical depression an intergenerational experience as well.

This work is supported by recent studies in genetic science which has demonstrated an epigenetic link between the trauma suffered by Holocaust survivors and the genetic reverberations for subsequent generations.[4] Likewise, research by scientists at Emory University suggests that memories of trauma can be inherited, rendering offspring vulnerable to psychological predispositions for stress disorders, schizophrenia, and PTSD.[5]

Vacant lot greening and mood

A 2018 study asked low income residents of Philadelphia "how often they felt nervous, hopeless, restless, depressed and worthless."[6] As an experimental mental health intervention, trash was removed from vacant lots. Some of the vacant lots were "greened", with plantings of trees, grass, and small fences. Residents near the "greened" lots who had incomes below the poverty line reported a decrease in feelings of depression of 68%, while residents with incomes above the poverty line reported a decrease of 41%. Removing trash from vacant lots without installing landscaping did not have an observable mental health impact.[6]

See also

References
  1. Cvetkovich, Ann (2012). Depression: A Public Feeling. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. p. 25. ISBN 978-0822352389. OCLC 779876753. …the histories of genocide, slavery, and exclusion and oppression of immigrants that seep into our daily lives of segregation, often as invisible forces that structure comfort and privilege for some and lack of resources for others, inequities whose connection to the past frequently remain obscure. These are depressing conditions, indeed, ones that make depression seem not so much a medical or biochemical dysfunction as a very rational response to global conditions.
  2. Cox, William T.L.; Abramson, Lyn Y.; Devine, Patricia G.; Hollon, Steven D. (September 2012). "Stereotypes, Prejudice, and Depression: The Integrated Perspective". Perspectives on Psychological Science. 7 (5): 427–49. doi:10.1177/1745691612455204. PMID 26168502. S2CID 1512121. closed access
  3. Ta-Nehisi Coates (June 2014). "The Case for Reparations". The Atlantic.
  4. Yehuda, Rachel; Daskalakis, Nikolaos P.; Bierer, Linda M.; Bader, Heather N.; Klengel, Torsten; Holsboer, Florian; Binder, Elisabeth B. (August 12, 2015). "Holocaust Exposure Induced Intergenerational Effects on FKBP5 Methylation". Biological Psychiatry. 80 (5): 372–380. doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2015.08.005. PMID 26410355. closed access
  5. Callaway, Ewen (December 1, 2013). "Fearful Memories Haunt Mouse Descendants". Nature. doi:10.1038/nature.2013.14272. S2CID 155233262.
  6. Hui, Mary (August 17, 2018). "Study: When a city's trashy lots are cleaned up, residents' mental health improves". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 3, 2021.
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