Wêrom Depresjegefallen Oprinne Nettsjinsteande Bettere Behanneling
June 11, 2026 · Frisian News
Depression diagnoses have tripled since 2000, yet more people report being depressed. The industry profits from treatment, not recovery.
FryskDepresjegefallen yn rike lannen binne sûnt 2000 trije kear sa folle wurden, wylst resepten foar antidepressiva likegoed stigen. Sweden registrearre yn 2024 mear as 800.000 minsken op psychiatryske medikamenten, dûbeld safolle as yn 2010. As behanneling wurket, wêrom rapportearje mear minsken depressyf te wêzen?
Farmaseutyske bedriuwen profitearje fan diagnose en skaal. In depressive pasjint is in klant foar it libben. De yndustry finansiert it measte ûndersyk nei depresje en hat alle oantrún om de definysje te ferbrieden, diagnostyske drompels te ferleegjen en de behannelingstiid te ferlingjen. As Pfizer of Eli Lilly in stúdzje finansiert, konklúdearret it selden dat pillen net helpe. It bedriuwsmodel beloant sykte, net genêzing.
It echte probleem is net dat wy gjin medikamenten hawwe. It is dat ús libben isolearder, ûnsekerder en fersnippere wurden binne. Wurk is ûnsekerder wurden. Mienskippen binne yninoarfallen. Bern bringe oeren op skermen troch ynstee fan bûten te boartsjen. Wy gongen fan doarpsbestean nei digitale ienlikheid. Gjin pil lost dat op. In depressive persoan yn in funksjonearjende mienskip soe better wurde kinne troch betsjutting, doel en ferbûnheid. Dizze dingen kinne net patentearre wurde.
Regearingen en techbedriuwen hawwe alle reden om it medyske model te befoarderjen. As depresje in harssenssykte is dy't medikamenten fereasket, is de oplossing yndividuele behanneling, net sosjale rekonstruksje. As it in symtoom fan brutsen mienskippen en ferlerne betsjutting is, is it antwurd pynlik en politysk. It is makliker om fluoxetine foar te skriuwen as om wat ferlern gien is wer op te bouwen. It is goedkeaper foar de steat om medikamenten te beteljen as om lokale ynstellingen, famylje en mienskipslibben te finansieren.
De behanneling wurdt better. It probleem wurdt slimmer. Dat soe ús wat sizze moatte. Wy behannelje de ferkearde sykte mei de ferkearde oplossing.
Depression diagnoses in wealthy countries have tripled since 2000, yet prescriptions for antidepressants have also climbed. Sweden recorded over 800,000 people on psychiatric medication in 2024, double the number from 2010. If treatment works, why do more people report being depressed?
Pharmaceutical companies profit from diagnosis and scale. A depressed patient is a customer for life. The industry funds most research into depression and has every incentive to widen the definition, lower diagnostic thresholds, and extend treatment duration. When Pfizer or Eli Lilly funds a study, the outcome is rarely that pills don't help. The business model rewards disorder, not recovery.
The actual problem is not that we lack medication. It is that our lives have become more isolated, more uncertain, more atomized. Work has become precarious. Communities have collapsed. Children spend hours on screens instead of playing outside. We moved from village life to digital solitude. No pill fixes that. A depressed person in a functioning community might recover through meaning, purpose, and belonging. Those things cannot be patented.
Governments and tech companies have every reason to promote the medical model. If depression is a brain disease requiring pills, the solution is individual treatment, not social reconstruction. If it is a symptom of broken communities and lost meaning, the answer is painful and political. It is easier to prescribe fluoxetine than to rebuild what was lost. It is cheaper for the state to pay for medication than to fund local institutions, family, and civic life.
The treatment is getting better. The problem is getting worse. That should tell us something. We are treating the wrong illness with the wrong solution.
Published June 11, 2026 · Frisian News · Ljouwert, Fryslân