Old Black Cloud

A timely contribution to understanding mental health

Mental depression is a serious issue in contemporary New Zealand, and it has an increasingly high profile. But during our history, depression has often been hidden under a long black cloud of denial that we have not always lived up to the Kiwi ideal of being pragmatic and have not always coped.

Using historic patient records as a starting place, and informed by her own experience of depression, academic Jacqueline Leckie’s timely social history of depression in Aotearoa analyses its medical, cultural and social contexts through an historical lens. From detailing its links to melancholia and explaining its expression within Indigenous and migrant communities, this engrossing book interrogates how depression was medicalised and has been treated, and how New Zealanders have lived with it.

To look inside, click here.

‘This book is not an easy read, but it is fundamental to providing careful historical context and complex, individual stories for a phenomenon that is often discussed in abstract, simplistic, or unhelpful ways.’ — Bronwyn Labrum, Journal of Australian, Canadian and Aotearoa New Zealand Studies 

‘Old Black Cloud is authoritative, erudite and highly readable. It should be mandatory reading for all those interested in the social and cultural dimensions of depression and mental health in Aotearoa New Zealand.’ — Solomon Lewis, North & South

‘Jacqueline Leckie marks an important (and poignant) milestone in tackling a subject which deserves more transparency.’ — Jenny Nicolls, Waiheke Weekender

‘Highly accessible, uniquely insightful, and in-depth exploration of mental depression as an intrinsic part of our national fabric.’ — Allan McEvoy, Kete Books

‘For all that this sounds like a gloomy read, it is not. Rigorously researched and humanely presented, Leckie’s work is a triumph.’ — Emma-Jean Kelly, New Zealand Journal of Public History