"I felt like a hole in the ground" - Mental Health and Illness in America

In the capitalist market economy characterized by increasing pressure and instability, the self-care industry is booming: Apps such as Headspace or 7Mind, products related to concepts like Hygge and Ikigai, self-help guides and Zen coloring books have become part of our life, not least during the ongoing pandemic. Alongside, yoga and mindfulness have found their way into companies and institutions – to help stressed employees stay calm, but also to increase productivity and place responsibility for their well-being on the workers. Bearing these developments in mind, in this class we will discuss a variety of texts dealing with questions of mental health and illness in the United States: How are mental and physical health defined at different points in time? What is the role of gender when talking about well-being? How do changes in the medical system, new scientific discoveries and new approaches to therapy play into these discussions? Is there a specific language to address challenges relating to mental health?

Readings will include a variety of genres; a reader will be made available at the beginning of the semester.

In addition, participants are asked purchase the following texts:

• Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar
• Tennessee Williams, A Streetcar Named Desire