ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces the reader to the intertwined relationship between neoliberalism, mental health, and the governance of populations. Drawing on two case-studies from the United Kingdom – anti-stigma campaigns and austerity suicides – the chapter sketches the neoliberalization of personhood via mental health discourse. In doing so, it reveals how neoliberal logics determine not only economic systems but also everyday conceptualizations of what it means to be well, and what it takes to remain well. Within a wider context of restrictive welfare reforms under neoliberal structures, we are left to ponder the extent to which public health measures can effectively address rising levels of mental distress. The chapter concludes by calling for a historicizing and interdisciplinary approach in studying the political economy of health to carve space for a reconceptualization of mental well-being.
