ABSTRACT

This chapter explains possible explanations that could add knowledge about the increased usage of antidepressants in modern society, using Denmark as an example. We describe the development in usage of newer antidepressants in the European countries in the light of the socio-economic and societal development with the ideal of self-realization and emphasizing such individual characteristics as flexibility, mobility, innovation, enterprise, willingness to change and adaption and vigorousness. Biopolitics is the concept of medicalization and governmentality. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has shown an increasing usage of antidepressants in all the OECD countries over a period of two years. Andersen's model could encompass possible factors which influence utilization of antidepressants. A dimension of the increasing antidepressant use that has not been mentioned here is the questioning of the relative efficacy of newer antidepressants in comparison with placebo and doubts about the utility of specific serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) for mild or moderate depression.