Disciplining the depressed? Considering contemporary treatments of depression as disciplinary techniques

Abstract

This study explores contemporary treatments of depression in relation to Michel Foucault’s disciplinary techniques. These techniques are used as analytical tools and applied to two current treatments of depression: guided self-help and cognitive behavioural therapy. The analysis shows that in many ways these treatments do align with, and thus can be considered, disciplinary techniques. This increases the importance of considering issues of politics and power in relation to how people with depression are treated. However, this does not tell the full story; looking solely at disciplinary techniques does not capture the complexity of today’s treatments of depression. In attempting to adopt a conceptual approach that can speak to and complement clinical work, the notion of multiplicity is discussed as a way of retaining the important insights of Foucault’s work but also attending to the specific clinical practices that make depression what it is today.