BIOMEDICAL ETHICS GRAND ROUNDS - Jonathan M. Metzl, M.D., Ph.D.

STANFORD UNIVERSITY CENTER FOR BIOMEDICAL ETHICS PRESENTS

BIOMEDICAL ETHICS GRAND ROUNDS

WINTER 2004

Assessing the Impact of SSRI Anti-depresants on Popular Notions of Depressive Illness

Jonathan M. Metzl, M.D., Ph.D.

Jonathan M. Metzl, M.D., Ph.D., discusses the contributing role of Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressants in expanding categories of women's "mental illness" in relation to categories of "normal" behavior. Dr. Metzl suggests that between 1985 and 2000, as PMDD, postpartum depression, and perimenopausal depression were increasingly treated with SSRIs, popular categories of depressive illness expanded to encompass what were previously considered normative women's life events such as motherhood, menstruation, or childbirth. Dr. Metzl argues for this expansion through an in-depth analysis of popular representations of depressive illness from American magazines and newspapers spanning the years 1985 to 2000. Dr. Metzl uncovers a widening set of gender-specific criteria outside of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual criteria for dysthymic or depressive disorders that have, over time, been conceived as indicative of treatment with SSRIs. Dr. Metzl is the author of ?Prozac on the Couch: Prescribing Gender in the Era of Wonder Drugs? by Duke University Press (2003).

Jonathan M. Metzl, M.D., Ph.D., is assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Women's Studies as well as director of Program in Culture, Health, and Medicine at the University of Michigan. Dr. Metzl is also the author of ?Prozac on the Couch: Prescribing Gender in the Era of Wonder Drugs,? Duke University Press (2003).

The Biomedical Ethics Grand Rounds are presented from 12-1 pm in Room M-104 of the Medical Center with exception of the dates February 5, 2004 and the March 4, 2004 as the Grand Rounds will be held in Room M-106. Please contact the Center for Biomedical Ethics at 650-723-5760 for further schedule information or visit our website at http://scbe.stanford.edu for additional information on speakers and topics.