Materialism and depression

Depression Skyrockets Amidst Growing Materialism
By Matthew Little
Epoch Times Staff Reporter
Apr 04, 2008


Recent reports describe a sharp rise in the number of students seeking counseling services at universities across the country for help with depression. (Photos.com)
Rising depression rates at Canadian universities and around the developed world may point to problems with our modern way of life according to experts and a growing list of studies. Recent reports describe a sharp rise in the number of students seeking counseling services at universities across the country for help with depression.
Queen's University alone has seen patient numbers triple in the past ten years. Vancouver's Simon Fraser University has added a psychiatrist to its health and counseling services to deal with the problem.
Data for Canada is incomplete, but in the United States the National College Health Assessment of almost 24,000 students found that in 2006, nearly half of the female students surveyed and 36 per cent of the male felt so depressed it was difficult to function at least once in the past 12 months.
In that same time period more than half the students said they had experienced hopelessness. About 10 per cent had seriously considered suicide.
But even with such high numbers seeking counseling, there is some debate among mental health experts about the actual prevalence of depression.
Some experts say there is little past research to compare to so it is impossible to know if the number of people with the illness is actually growing. Others say more people are aware of depression now resulting in more people seeking medical help.
Some also think that people are seeking help for less severe forms of depression than they did in the past.
Overall, however, there is widespread belief that depression is on the rise. The World Health Organization predicts depression will be the second most common disease by 2010.
As for the cause of the increase, research into factors that contribute to depression could offer some explanation.
There is a growing list of studies that establish a link between depression and materialism — a strong attachment to material goods to the exclusion of spiritual or intellectual values.
Recent findings by John Abela, associate professor of psychology at McGill University and director of the Cognitive Behaviour Therapy Clinic at the Montreal Children's Hospital, found that children as young as six can be affected.
Abela and his team of student researchers are conducting a study of approximately 1,000 adolescents in Montreal and Shanghai. He found that the rapid change in China's culture and its embrace of materialism has increased depression rates.
"Materialists have a fragile sense of self because their worth depends on attaining external things. The quality of their interpersonal relationships suffers and they feel more stress while pursuing extrinsic goals," Abela said in a McGill magazine.
Psychologist Tim Kasser of Knox College found materialistic children have less self-esteem, less happiness and describe experiencing more signs of anxiety than their peers.
Studies of adults link materialism to poor relationships and unhappiness and researchers at the University of Newcastle, Australia, found materialistic people were more likely to experience anger and depression.
Researchers have also been aware of a connection between depression and increased alcoholism and illicit drug use, but the connection can be complicated.
Depression has been found to lead to drug abuse and alcoholism, but drug abuse and alcoholism can also lead to depression. An unknown host of other factors, materialism among them, may contribute to both.
Basia Pakula, a research associate at Centre for Addictions Research at the University of Victoria, said some people turn to drugs as a way to self medicate, even though attempts may do more harm than good.
Pakula said researchers "frequently see people who have depression or other mental health problems develop substance-use dependency."
Some drug users find the substance helps with problems like depression and that this "function" can lead to addiction, said Pakula.
Does that mean depression is behind the 11 per cent jump in alcohol consumption in B.C. over the last decade? No-one is saying that, but the two issues could be related.
Joseph Rochford, a researcher the Douglas Institute and associate psychiatry professor at McGill, says some people being treated for alcoholism recover after being treated for their depression.
He also said that stress is one of the main contributors to depression.
Rochford speculated that the rise in depression may be partially attributed to changing lifestyles that have eroded people's traditional support networks.
He described families of yesteryear living closer together and neighbors being more familiar and friendly with each other, calling on each other in times of need.
People today are more isolated, he said, leaving them to face the world on their own, which can cause more stress and more depression.
"Neighborhoods aren't as strong as they used to be."