Foucault and the Care of the Self: Educating for Moral Action and Mental Illness

Abstract

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), depression is a worldwide epidemic. It is believed to be the fourth leading cause of disability, outranking diseases such as iron-deficiency, alcoholism, and chronic pulmonary disease. Manic depression is ranked sixth as a cause of disability, despite that only 2-5 percent of the population is believed to have the affliction. The prevalence of these diseases is predicted to worsen. By the year 2020, it is estimated that the devastation caused by depression, which is defined in terms of the number of years lost to death or disability, will be surpassed only by heart disease. Today, one in five persons is estimated to meet the criteria for clinical depression in her or his lifetime. 1