Struggling to Be a "Happy Self"? Psychotherapy and the Medicalization of Unhappiness in Uganda
Abstract
This article is an ethnographic study of emergent discourses, practices, and institutions focused on mental health and psychotherapy in Uganda. It compares the recent rise of a psy-dispositif in two very different settings: postwar northern Uganda, which has become a hub for international trauma interventions, and Kampala, the capital, where a small group of Ugandan psychotherapists has established a number of private practices, which mainly cater to the (upper) middle classes. The article investigates the meanings of happiness and suffering in these different contexts and asks who seeks psychotherapy and why. It shows how in the context of novel discourses on mental health, and related to changing lifestyles and images of the self, new struggles to be happy are taking place, albeit in very class- and place-specific ways. Consequently, unhappiness and psychosocial suffering are becoming reasons for seeking therapy, at least for some. Such a medicalization of unhappiness, manifested most prominently in the popular idiom of depression, reflects a global trend and has led to the soaring consumption of antidepressants and rising popularity of psychotherapy, particularly in the United States. As such, this article seeks to make a contribution to recent anthropological debates on happiness, suffering, and global mental health.
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The growth of MHPSS is part of the global expansion of 'psy' knowledge.
“The growth of the MHPSS field, particularly in the Global South, is part of the global expansion of a body of lay and professionalized knowledge about the mind which authors have referred to as 'psy' (e.g., Vorhölter 2019) or 'psy-expertise' (Klein and Mills 2017).”
From Throwing therapy at the problem mental health and humanitarian intervention in Palabek refugee settlement, northern Uganda (2023) · cites this paper as Vorhölter 2019
Uganda has recently seen a remarkable expansion of psy discourses and expertise, largely due to MHPSS interventions.
“Meanwhile, the country has recently seen a remarkable expansion of psy discourses and expertise, in large part thanks to the widespread presence of MHPSS interventions (Vorhölter 2019).”
From Throwing therapy at the problem mental health and humanitarian intervention in Palabek refugee settlement, northern Uganda (2023) · cites this paper as Vorhölter 2019
Middle-class Ugandans find significant comfort in forms of psychotherapy which have recently gained popularity in the country's capital.
“for example, Vorhölter (2019) has shown that middle-class Ugandans find significant comfort in forms of psychotherapy which have recently gained popularity in the country's capital.”
From Throwing therapy at the problem mental health and humanitarian intervention in Palabek refugee settlement, northern Uganda (2023) · cites this paper as Vorhölter (2019)
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“Normality is culturally constituted and contextually dependent (Benedict 1934).”
BackgroundIgreja, V. (2003) · Transcultural Psychiatry · doi:10.1177/1363461503404001 · Cited by 53 · see citing works
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Torre, C. (2023) · London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) · doi:10.21953/lse.00004557
- Authors
- Vorhölter, J.
- Affiliations
- University of Copenhagen (DK)
- Corresponding author
- Vorhölter, Julia
- ORCID
- Vorhölter, Julia
- Venue
- Current Anthropology
- Publisher
- University of Chicago Press
- Published
- 2019-04
- Volume
- 60
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 194-223
- ISSN
- 0011-3204 (ISSN-L)
- 1537-5382
- OpenAlex
- W2918128699
- Cited by
- 18
- References
- 3
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 4
- FWCI
- 2.92
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Current Anthropology (publishedVersion)
- UvA-DARE (University of Amsterdam) (submittedVersion)
- Research at the University of Copenhagen (University of Copenhagen) (submittedVersion)
- MPG.PuRe (Max Planck Society) (submittedVersion)
- Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychology and Mental Health
- Social Sciences › Anthropology › Anthropological Studies and Insights
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Historical Psychiatry and Medical Practices
- Keywords
- psychotherapy, happiness, suffering, mental health, depression, antidepressants, global mental health, trauma intervention, Kampala, middle class, Uganda
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