Whose Life Am I Living? Relatives Living in the Shadow of Depression

Sigrid Stjernswärd and Margareta Östman
Additional contact information
Sigrid Stjernswärd: Health and Society, Malmö University, 205 06 Malmö, Sweden, sigrid.stjernsward@mah.se
Margareta Östman: Health and Society, Malmö University, 205 06 Malmö, Sweden

International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 2008, vol. 54, issue 4, 358-369

Abstract: Background: Families living with mental illness experience added burden and need information and support. Aim: This aim of this study was to explore the experiences of families living close to a depressed individual. Methods: Eighteen persons were interviewed individually or in focus groups. Data was analysed using a grounded theory-inspired methodology. Results: Most participants expressed a feeling of not living their own life, struggling to balance relationships, adapting to and re-evaluating their life circumstances, and struggling to voice their ill relatives' and their own needs. Conclusions: More can be done to help and sustain hope in the relatives of persons with depression.

Keywords: depression; family burden; support; grounded theory; interviews; focus groups (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2008
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0020764008090794 (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:socpsy:v:54:y:2008:i:4:p:358-369

DOI: 10.1177/0020764008090794

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in International Journal of Social Psychiatry
Bibliographic data for series maintained by SAGE Publications ().