Examining Global Mental Health, Bio-politics and Depression in Ethiopia: An Ethnographic study.

The persistent high rate of depression is a global concern and has become a leading cause of avoidable suffering and premature mortality which affects around 350 million people worldwide. In Ethiopia, the number of people affected by depressive illness in health care settings is high but often, are not detected. Ethiopia has adopted global mental health global support programs to improve care. But these programs have not had high levels of success at detecting depression in health care settings. How people view depression is part of this concern. To date, we do not know how Ethiopians conceive of and express depression in health care settings. This study will explore how depression is conceptualized and communicated among patients and health care workers to inform sound programs to improve care. I will use an ethnography research method and spend 8 months carrying out this research in a clinical setting in Bahirdar City, Northern Ethiopia. Data collection will involve semi-structured -depth interviews, and document analysis. A total of 35 in-depth interviews will be conducted. This research will help to devise sound treatment approaches, structuring tools to detect depression, and helps to prepare programs to improve the mental health care system in Ethiopia and beyond.