In the post WWII period, psychiatry has undergone a series of tremendous shifts which have fundamentally altered the profession’s scope, identity, and claim to medical legitimacy. Key among these changes has been the dramatic rise of psychopharmaceutical drugs. Originally an adjunct thought to facilitate the establishment of a therapeutic relationship between patient and practitioner, psychopharmaceuticals have firmly ensconced themselves as the frontline treatment for mental illness in its severest and mildest forms. Alongside the growth of pharmaceutical treatment, psychiatry has been reshaped by changes in diagnostic criteria and a growing international consensus on what exactly qualifies as mental illness. Local and culturally-specific notions of disorder and its aetiology have been displaced by the universal language of biochemistry and the epidemiology of mental illness in the various corners of the globe is beginning to look increasingly homogenous.

This paper addresses these dual processes - the supposed "pharmaceuticalization" and "globalization" of mental illness – through the lens of advertising. Pharmaceutical advertising has recently figured into the thinking of historians such as Jonathan Metzl, Jeremy Greene, David Herzberg, and others, yet work on the subject has largely been confined to the United States. This paper introduces an international comparative element by examining print advertisements in eight countries (Argentina, USA, UK, France, Croatia [Yugoslavia], Tunisia, India, and New Zealand) in the period 1953 – 1993. Analysing advertisements in general and specialist journals, the paper discusses the extent to which the increasing profile of pharmaceutical medications can be linked with the growing international confluence of key concepts regarding the cause, experience, and treatment of mental illness. Moreover, it considers how advertisers confronted the challenges of shifting political and socio-cultural climates in these diverse medical markets. The paper concludes by arguing that, while ostensibly selling a product, these advertisements are perhaps more significant for their abilities to sell ideas.