Study, 2004
Did SSRIs change what people thought of as depression in women?
Between 1985 and 2000, as SSRIs became available for PMDD and related conditions, popular media began describing menstruation, motherhood, and childbirth as potential signs of depression.
What they did
Researchers analyzed American newspaper and magazine articles about depression published between 1985 and 2000. They tracked how descriptions of women's depression changed over time, especially after SSRIs were introduced for PMDD, postpartum depression, and menopause-related depression.
What they found
As SSRIs were marketed for women's hormonal conditions, media articles increasingly described normal women's life events (menstruation, motherhood, childbirth) as signs of depression that might need drug treatment. The range of conditions considered treatable depression expanded significantly.
What it means for you
This study looks at media representation, not clinical evidence. It suggests that marketing and advertising may have influenced public beliefs about what counts as illness. This does not tell us whether PMDD or these other conditions are real or valid, only that they were increasingly portrayed as medical problems in popular media.
1985-2000
Time period studied
About the study
- Original title
- Assessing the impact of SSRI antidepressants on popular notions of women's depressive illness
- Authors
- Metzl JM, Angel J
- Journal
- Social science & medicine (1982)
- Year
- 2004
- Study design
- Study
- What was tested
- Content analysis of media articles
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1016/s0277-9536(03)00369-1
Topics
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