In Western society, depression is defined as a depressed mood or loss of pleasure in previously interesting activities. In Japan, however, depression is considered a mental disorder and often a state of life-threatening grief. The Chinese describe depression as physical pain, while Native Americans describe it as an overwhelming feeling of loneliness. A prestigious writer who has published work in The New York Times Magazine and Wired, among others, Ethan Watters has written an excellent article on the controversial issue of depression and how it is perceived differently in his article titled The Mega-Marketing of Depression in Japan. . His article, in my interpretation, concluded that depression is perceived distinctly in different cultures depending on the society. A pharmaceutical company called GlaxoSmithKline was trying to market its antidepressants in Japan when there was no interest at the time. However, through a clever effort to create a need for such a substance through so-called mega marketing, GlaxoSmithKline was able to change that. What he did first was help reshape the definition of depression in Japan, from Utsubyo to Kokoro no Kaze, which means a cold of the soul (Watters, 524). This change in terminology reduced the stigma attached to this illness, as it was considered a common cold, which most people get at some point in their lives. Additionally, GlaxosmithKline created advertisements promoting the use of its medications and helped write news articles addressing the serious nature of depression. Additionally, GlaxoSmithKline helped translate American books on depression into Japanese to further its mega marketing campaign. Surprisingly, the average viewer would not have known how much GlaxoSmithKline was working behind the scenes. There was even a depression advocacy group funded by GlaxoSmithKline (Watters, 525). Not only were the media influenced by GlaxoSmithKline, but so were medical professionals in Japan. So much so that Kalman Applbaum, an anthropologist who gave advice and, in turn, his perspective on health care-related depression issues. Depression can be redefined, however, this is a difficult task to accomplish because many variables are involved in the cultural view of depression, but it can be cultivated as in Japan. And even if depression is reinvented, it still needs to be developed through an understanding of the culture that is being changed. As a result, this culture always has its own modified view of the matter, like a musician who is influenced by other musicians but still has his own interpretation and expression of his own music.