Mass media are influential mediators of information, knowledge, and narratives of health and illness. In this article, we report on an examination of personal accounts of illness as presented in three Swedish newspapers, focusing on the gendered representation of laypersons' experiences of depression. A database search identified all articles mentioning depression during the year 2002. Twenty six articles focusing on personal experiences of depression were then subjected to a qualitative content analysis. We identified four themes: displaying a successful facade, experiencing a cracking facade, losing and regaining control, and explaining the illness. We found both similarities and differences with regard to gendered experiences. The mediated accounts of depression both upheld and challenged traditional gender stereotypes. The women's stories were more detailed, relational, emotionally oriented, and embodied. The portrayal of men was less emotional and expressive, and described a more dramatic onset of depression, reflecting hegemonic patterns of masculinity.
Berger, M., Wagner, T.H., & Baker, L. (2005). Internet use and stigmatized illness. Social Science & Medicine, 61, 1821-1827.
2.
Björnberg, U. (1998). Family orientation among men. A process of change in Sweden. In E. Drew, R. Emerek, & E. Mahon (Eds.), Women, work and the family in Europe (pp. 200-207). London: Routledge.
3.
Borman, J. (2003). Depression in women's magazines. Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association, 9, 71-76.
4.
Byström, M. (2002a, April 9). Sätt stopp för vårdeppen [Put a stop to spring depression]. Aftonbladet, p. 11.
5.
Byström, M. (2002b, August 6). Jag har fått tillbaka mitt liv [I have got my life back]. Aftonbladet, pp. 22-23.
6.
Byström, M. (2002c, August 13). Ljuden får mig att bli glad igen [Sounds that make me happy again]. Aftonbladet, pp. 28-29.
7.
Connell, R.W., & Messerschmidt, J. (2005). Hegemonic masculinity: Rethinking the concept. Gender & Society, 19(6), 829-859.
8.
Courtenay, W.H. (2000a). Engendering health: A social constructionist examination of men's health beliefs and behaviours. Psychology of Men and Masculinity, 1, 4-15.
9.
Courtenay, W.H. (2000b). Constructions of masculinity and their influence on men's well-being: A theory of gender and health. Social Science & Medicine, 50, 1385-1401.
10.
Danielsson, U., & Johansson, E. (2005). Beyond weeping and crying: A gender analysis of expressions of depression. Scandinavian Journal of Primary Health Care, 23(3), 171-177.
11.
Emslie, C., Ridge, D., Ziebland, S., & Hunt, K. (2006). Men's accounts of depression: Reconstructing or resisting hegemonic masculinity? Social Science & Medicine , 62(9), 2246-2257.
12.
Engström, A. (2002, November 6). Många unga lider av dolda depressioner [Many young people suffer from hidden depressions]. Svenska Dagbladet, p. 8.
13.
Francis, C., Pirkis, J., Blood, R.W., Dunt, D., Burgess, P., Morley, B., et al. (2004). The portrayal of mental health and illness in Australian non-fiction media. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 38, 541-546.
14.
Gattuso, S., Fullagar, S., & Young, I. (2005). Speaking of women's "nameless misery": The everyday construction of depression in Australian women's magazines. Social Science & Medicine, 61, 1640-1648.
15.
Giddens, A. (1991). Modernity and self-identity: Self and society in the late modern age. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.
16.
Gough, B. (2006). Try to be healthy, but don't forgo your masculinity: Deconstructing men's health discourse in the media. Social Science & Medicine, 63, 2476-2488.
17.
Graneheim, U.H., & Lundman, B. (2003). Qualitative content analysis in nursing research: Concepts, procedures and measures to achieve trustworthiness. Nurse Education Today, 24, 104-112.
18.
Hammarström, A., Lehti, A., Danielsson, U., Bengs, C., & Johansson, E. (2007). Gender-related explanatory models of depression: A critical evaluation of medical articles. Unpublished manuscript.
19.
Hjerten, L. (2002, August 24). Jag blev deprimerad [I became depressed] . Aftonbladet, p. 28.
20.
Iverus Bergman, I. (2002, December 3). "Jag är en försökskanin" ["I am a guinea pig"]. Svenska Dagbladet, p. 18.
21.
Kangas, I. (2001). Making sense of depression: Perceptions of melancholia in lay narratives. Health, 5(1), 76-92.
22.
Kasvi, L. (2002, November 28). Lyckopiller-Robbies tröst [Happy pills-Robbie's comfort]. Aftonbladet, pp. 34-35.
23.
Kilmartin, C. (2005). Depression in men: Communication, diagnosis and therapy. Journal of Men's Health and Gender, 2(1), 95-99.
24.
Kirkman, A. (2001). Productive readings: The portrayal of health "experts" in women's magazines. Qualitative Health Research, 11, 751-765.
25.
Lagerblad, A. (2002a, April 23). Tystnad kring ledsen mor [Silence regarding sad mother]. Svenska Dagbladet, p. 14.
26.
Lagerblad, A. (2002b, October 3). Min tillvaro blev en dåres försvarstal [My existence became a madman's defense]. Svenska Dagbladet , p. 20.
27.
Lagercrantz, A. (2002a, October 24). Anhöriga: Lita inte på vården! [Relatives: Don't trust the health care!]. Svenska Dagbladet, p. 22.
28.
Lagercrantz, A. (2002b, November 28). Konsten att vinna över demonerna [The art of winning over the demons]. Svenska Dagbladet, p. 22.
29.
Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M. (2003). Metaphors we live by. Chicago : University of Chicago Press.
30.
Leong, K. (2002, March 18). Vilken 19-åring har råd att gå i terapi? [What 19-year-old can afford therapy?]. Aftonbladet, p. 24.
31.
Lindstedt, K. (2002, September 7). Hon tvingades till psyket efter killens otrohet [She was forced to psychiatric care after her boyfriend's infidelity] . Aftonbladet, p. 32.
32.
Lundén, M.M. (2004). När kvinnor tar slut och män går in i väggen [Worn out women and men hitting the wall: How burnout is presented in the media] . Kulturella Perspektiv, 4, 21-32.
33.
[Mentally ill are excluded by society] Psykiskt sjuka är utstötta av samhället . (2002, December 27). Göteborgsposten, p. 4.
34.
Metzel, J., & Angel, J. (2004). Assessing the impact of SSRI antidepressants on popular notions of women's depressive illness. Social Science & Medicine, 58, 577-584.
35.
Mosander, I. (2002, December 7). Piller är bra mot ångest [Pills are good against anxiety]. Aftonbladet, pp. 26-27.
36.
O'Brien, R., Hunt, K., & Hart, G. (2005). "It's caveman stuff, but that is to a certain extent how guys still operate": Men's accounts of masculinity and help seeking . Social Science & Medicine, 61, 503-516.
37.
Petersen, A., & Lupton, D. (1996). The new public health. St. Leonard's, Australia: Allen and Unwin.
38.
Ridge, D., & Ziebland, S. (2006). "The old me could never have done that": How people give meaning to recovery following depression. Qualitative Health Research, 16, 1038-1053.
39.
Rowe, R., Tilbury, F., Rapley, M., & O'Ferrall, I. (2003). "About a year before the breakdown I was having symptoms": Sadness, pathology and the Australian newspaper media. Sociology of Health & Illness, 25(6), 680-696.
40.
Sahlman, M. (2002, November 3). Ett steg mot ett liv bortom skuggorna [A step towards a life beyond the shadows]. Göteborgsposten , pp. 6-7.
41.
Sayah, C. (2002, December 10). Jag blev piggare efter några dagar [I became more alive after a couple of days]. Aftonbladet , p. 28.
42.
Schreiber, R. (1998). Clueing in: A guide to solving the puzzle of self for women recovering from depression. Health Care for Women International, 19, 269-288.
43.
Seale, C. (2002). Cancer heroics: A study of news reports with particular references to gender. Sociology, 36(1), 107-126.
44.
Seale, C. (2003a). Health and media: An overview. Sociology of Health & Illness, 25(6), 513-531.
45.
Seale, C. (2003b). Media and health. London: Sage.
46.
Seale, C. (2005). New directions for critical Internet health studies: Representing cancer experience on the Web. Sociology of Health & Illness, 27(4), 515-540.
47.
Simolin, S. (2002, May 19). Anna slutade äta [Anna stopped eating] . Göteborgsposten, p. 61.
48.
Wallin, K. (2002, September 15). Naturmedicin för trasiga själar [Naturopathic drugs for broken souls]. Göteborgsposten, pp. 54-55.
49.
Wegar, K. (1997). Cultural representations of women's and men's mental health: An analysis of Self magazine and men's health. In E. Riska (Ed.), Images of women's health: The social construction of gendered health, 10, 59-78. Turku, Finland: Institute of Women's Studies at Åbo Akademi University.
50.
Werner, A., Widding Isaksen, L., & Malterud, K. (2004). "I am not the kind of woman who complains of everything": Illness stories on self and shame in women with chronic pain. Social Science & Medicine, 59, 1035-1045.
51.
World Health Organization (2002). The World Health Report. Geneva: Author.
