Quarterly Essay 18 Worried Well

In The Worried Well, Gail Bell investigates Australia’s depression epidemic. Why, she wonders, do well over a million Australians now take antidepressant drugs?

This is a fresh, frank and independent look at the depression culture and the move to medicalise sadness. Bell examines how the prescription culture operates, scrutinising the role of big drug companies and GPs and talking to those who take...