Happy in castlemilk? Deprivation and depression in an urban community

This paper reports findings from a survey conducted in Autumn 1993 in Castlemilk, Glasgow. The purpose of the survey, commissioned by local service providers, was to estimate the prevalence of sub-clinical depression, identify at-risk groups and to specify how the interplay of different factors impacts on people's mental health. Just under a quarter of residents experienced some emotional distress. The factors associated with the observed distress were located both within the biography of those surveyed and the structural features of the locality in which they lived. It is concluded that service providers can devise strategies to identify individuals at risk of emotional distress to help them confront their private troubles. These should however be supplemented at regional and national levels by a range of policies designed to address structural inequalities.