Living the neurochemical self? Experiences after the success of the SSRIs

Bibliographic Data

ID12848253
AuthorsKerstin Sandell (Lund University, corresponding author)
Year2016
Volume17
Issue2
Pages130-148
Publication date2016-05-03
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueDistinktion Journal of Social Theory (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1600-910X • E-ISSN: 2159-9149
PublisherRoutledge (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/1600910x.2016.1223727
OpenAlexW2525321952
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited25

This is an exploration, in dialogue with Nikolas Rose’s conceptualization of the neurochemical self, of how people taking antidepressants through in-depth interviews make sense of their experiences of using selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. The neurochemical self, according to Rose, is a self understood as regulated by neurochemical processes, where how we feel is mapped onto the body, more precisely the brain. The findings suggest that one of Rose’s points – that the deep inner self informed by psychoanalysis is gone – has some bearing. However, the plasticity of the biological that Rose argues accompanies a neurochemical understanding that cannot be traced; rather, the understanding of depression is gravitating towards it being a biological, constitutional malfunctioning. Adding to this, even though the users experienced that the pills worked, their understandings bore no relation to the wider neurochemical framework and were riddled with uncertainty. As a conclusion it is suggested that depression is delinked from explanation, and exists in a void abandoned to containment by medicine, although not that effectively treated. In this, the only way to become a functioning subject once again seems to be to go on pills

Conceptualization · Neurochemical · Self · Mental Health and Psychiatry · Neuroethics, Human Enhancement, Biomedical Innovations · Neuroscience · Philosophy · Psychology · Social Psychology · Treatment of Major Depression

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub