Misery creep

Owning too much stuff drives us into a spiral of sadness, says a new book. Or is the real problem "misery-creep", where everyday unhappiness is being rebranded as depression? We all know the old saying: "Riches won't make you happy." But is it possible that riches - or even aspiring to be rich and wanting to live a Footballers' Wife-style life of luxury - might make us mentally ill?Clinical psychologist Oliver James claims in his new book The Selfish Capitalist: Origins of Affluenza, that "selfish capitalism" (the kind of capitalism we have in Britain) is making us sick. Literally. He says the emergence of selfish capitalism, first under Margaret Thatcher and later Tony Blair, has led to a "startling increase in the incidence of mental illness". We might live more comfortable and stuff-filled lives than our forebears did, but James believes the rise of materialism has come with a high price tag attached - widespread anxiety and depression... BBC