Introduction

This book is an investigation into cultural variations in experiences of depression. Examining first-person accounts of depressed persons in Iran alongside similar previously studied data from the UK, the book highlights the cultural shaping at the heart of variations in experiences, manifestations, and articulations of depression. The analyses presented appeal to some of the longstanding pillars of Iranian culture, such as folk theories and literature, as well as the dominant social influences, like the Iran-Iraq war and the Islamic revolution. A central claim made, therefore, is that contrary to the universalising approaches in psychiatry, a better understanding of the workings of mental illness is achieved by situating individuals and their experience in a meaning-making sociocultural context.