Today's Toxicity Tale: An Analysis of Depression Culture and American Society

Depression is a prominent world disorder. Many prior studies have examined the biological, cognitive, and social elements of depression; however, few studies attempt to examine what role culture plays in this disorder. If culture plays such a large role in human development, it only makes sense that it would have an impact on a society's depression experience. Furthermore, conformity has been found to play a large role in the behaviors and mood states of adolescents. If conformity holds such control within this population, it is likely that said conformity could be adapted to any decided behavior. Although there has been research conducted on depression, culture, and conformity separately, these concepts are not often looked at in unison. For this reason, the current thesis focuses on the interaction between depression, culture, and conformity by defining depression-culture and depression-conformity, examining the manifestation of these concepts within American society, and analyzing the effects of these concepts.