Chapter 16: Further Reading

Essential Sources

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH). Annual reports. The primary data source for depression prevalence in the U.S. Available online, updated annually. Compare across years to see the trends discussed in this chapter.

Haidt, J. (2024). The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness. Penguin Press. The most prominent argument that social media is driving youth depression. Read for the case, then read the critiques.

Orben, A., & Przybylski, A. K. (2019). "The association between adolescent well-being and digital technology use." Nature Human Behaviour, 3(2), 173–182. The large-scale analysis finding that the social media–wellbeing association is very small. Essential counterpoint to the "social media causes depression" narrative.

Horwitz, A. V., & Wakefield, J. C. (2007). The Loss of Sadness: How Psychiatry Transformed Normal Sorrow into Depressive Disorder. Oxford University Press. The most thorough argument that psychiatry has expanded the depression concept to include normal sadness. Influential and controversial.

Frances, A. (2013). Saving Normal: An Insider's Revolt Against Out-of-Control Psychiatric Diagnosis, DSM-5, and the Medicalization of Ordinary Life. William Morrow. By the chair of the DSM-IV Task Force. Critiques DSM-5 changes (including the bereavement exclusion removal) as contributing to over-diagnosis.

Twenge, J. M. (2017). iGen: Why Today's Super-Connected Kids Are Growing Up Less Rebellious, More Tolerant, Less Happy — and Completely Unprepared for Adulthood. Atria. Twenge's argument about generational mental health trends. Read critically alongside Orben's critiques of her methodology.

Curtin, S. C. (2020). "State suicide rates among adolescents and young adults aged 10–24: United States, 2000–2018." National Vital Statistics Reports, 69(11). CDC data on youth suicide trends. Critical for the argument that at least some of the mental health increase reflects genuine new illness.

Coyne, J. C. Blog: "Mind the Brain" and PLoS blog posts. James Coyne is a clinical psychologist who has written extensively and critically about depression measurement, overdiagnosis, and screening controversies. Accessible and evidence-based.

Ritchie, H., & Roser, M. "Mental Health." Our World in Data. Comprehensive, freely available data visualization on global mental health trends. Useful for seeing the data behind the claims.

Online Resources

988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. Call or text 988 (U.S.). Crisis support available 24/7.

CDC Wonder database. Public access to mortality data, including suicide statistics. Useful for independent verification of claims about suicide trends.

PHQ-9 (Patient Health Questionnaire-9). Available online. Take it to understand what screening looks like — and notice how many items describe experiences most people have at some point.