The Loss of Sadness

The Loss of Sadness argues that the increased prevalence of major depressive disorder- 10% of all American adults are said to be afflicted with it, according to recent estimates- is due not to a genuine rise in mental disease, as many claim, but to the way that normal human sadness has been pathologized since 1980. In that year, the field of psychiatry published its landmark third edition of The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III), which has since become a dominant force behind our current understanding of mental illness overall. The result: in the past 25 years since the DSM-III's appearance, virtually all research and all clinical approaches to depression have been based on an invalid definition of the condition, resulting in far-reaching scientific, social, and political implications that affect us all.