In the early 21st century, our emotions are at the centre of analyses of what is wrong with society. Levels of anxiety, anger, rage, happiness, and depression are taken as the benchmarks by which to assess the state of the nation, in the way that GDP or unemployment rates once were. And the situation looks bad, many claim, as emotional problems are deemed to afflict more and more people. Indeed, more of us than ever, we are told, are affected so badly that we are actually sick; so we now worry about a new epidemic of postnatal depression in mothers and fathers, the problem of social phobia, and rising numbers of employees on sick leave because of work stress. Children’s psychological state is a particular focus, as UNICEF tells us Britain’s children are more anxious and depressed than many others in the world, and schools deemed ‘pioneering’ introduce anger management and happiness lessons into the curriculum.
An especially notable development is the politicisation of emotion, with policy makers coming to see ‘wellbeing’ rather than old-fashioned welfare as the goal of social policy. Is this a progressive development, or should we reject the encroachment of therapy culture into politics?
 | Professor Christopher Lane Herman and Beulah Pearce Miller research professor of literature, Northwestern University (Chicago); author, Shyness: How Normal Behaviour Became a Sickness |
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 | Professor Sir Simon Wessely president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists; head of the Department of Psychological Medicine at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London |
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 | Dr David Wainwright senior lecturer in health services research, University of Bath; author, Work Stress: The Making of a Modern Epidemic |
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| Chair: | |
 | Dr Ellie Lee reader in social policy, University of Kent, Canterbury; director, Centre for Parenting Culture Studies |
| Dr Ellie Lee reader in social policy, University of Kent, Canterbury; director, Centre for Parenting Culture Studies | |
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 | recommended by spiked |
