Friendship or Commodities? The Road Not Taken: Friendship, Consumerism, and Happiness
Author(s)
Lane, Robert E.
Abstract
Since the mid 1960s there has been a dramatic rise in the incidence of clinical depression in economically advanced and rapidly advancing countries. Lack of companionship and social support is one of the principal causes for depression. This selection considers whether and how the “rage to consume” fostered by market economies may be weakening social ties and thus leading to an increase in the cases of clinical depression.
