Defining Depression: Endogenous Materialities, Exogenous Immaterialities

Resum

Definitions are narratives in action, implying a need to track down the ontology of what is defined. In
this case, we explore the mutual tension and/or symbiosis (with consonant and dissonant spaces)
arising from the definition of depression. We approach the term ‘depression’ as a controversial
subject, mapping a comparison between lay and expert narratives on the malaise, and making
use of digital ethnography as the methodology. A self-administered online open questionnaire was
completed with the definitions of 29 lay respondents. In addition, expert narratives were gathered
with the definitions of 9 health institutions’ web sites, and public mediation forums. Definitions
echoed from both spaces, with splits between biological materiality and psychological-social
immateriality, with a reiteration of the division between exogeneity and endogeneity, respectively.
Here, the emotiveness of the subject can be seen as stemming from the sum of reductionisms
and cumulative factors as to what depression is. Finally, we consider other possible ontologies
of depression that either: (1) take socio-material assemblies into account or (2) follow the
pragmatical turn, defining depression in action. This research opens new approaches towards
identifying external materialities, shifting the blame from the diagnosis of the individual towards
the mechanisms that spawn harmful relationships.