Old Black Cloud: A cultural history of mental depression in Aotearoa New Zealand

Jacqueline Leckie

$50.00

Mental depression is a serious issue in contemporary New Zealand, and it has an increasingly high profile. But during our history, depression has often been hidden under a long black cloud of denial that we have not always lived up to the Kiwi ideal of being pragmatic and have not always coped. Using historic patient records as a starting place, and informed by her own experience of depression, academic Jacqueline Leckie’ s timely social history of depression in Aotearoa analyses its medical, cultural and social contexts through an historical lens. From detailing its links to melancholia and explaining its expression within Indigenous and migrant communities, this engrossing book interrogates how depression was medicalised and has been treated, and how New Zealanders have lived with it.

Special Order Form

Want this book? We can order it in for you by filling out this form below. Special orders typically take 1-2 weeks to arrive if the book is still being published.

$50.00

Special Order Form

Want this book? We can order it in for you by filling out this form below. Special orders typically take 1-2 weeks to arrive if the book is still being published.

Mental depression is a serious issue in contemporary New Zealand, and it has an increasingly high profile. But during our history, depression has often been hidden under a long black cloud of denial that we have not always lived up to the Kiwi ideal of being pragmatic and have not always coped. Using historic patient records as a starting place, and informed by her own experience of depression, academic Jacqueline Leckie’ s timely social history of depression in Aotearoa analyses its medical, cultural and social contexts through an historical lens. From detailing its links to melancholia and explaining its expression within Indigenous and migrant communities, this engrossing book interrogates how depression was medicalised and has been treated, and how New Zealanders have lived with it.

Pages - 312

Binding - Paperback

Publisher - Massey University Press

Publication Date - 2024-10-01

ISBN - 9781991016720

Weight - 503 grams

Your cart

0 items

Your cart is empty