Original Research Article
Year: 2020 | Month: October | Volume: 10 | Issue: 10 | Pages: 303-310
Challenges in Managing the Persons with Depression: A Qualitative Study
Subhra Sarkar1, Dr. Arunjyoti Baruah2
1PhD Scholar (Psychiatric Nursing), 2 Professor and HoD,
Dept of Psychiatric Nursing, Lokopriya Gopinath Bordoloi Regional Institute of Mental Health, Tezpur, Assam
Corresponding Author: Subhra Sarkar
ABSTRACT
Depression is a major public health concern. It not only affects the mood of the person but also his thought, perception of the world, interest in daily activities and the interaction with people around him. This nature of the disorder along with established risk of suicide associated with it can make it really challenging for the family care givers in managing the persons with depression. Exploration in this area would be helpful in identifying the need of this population so as to plan for further strategies.
A qualitative phenomenological design has been adopted to conduct the study with the aim of exploring the challenges faced by family care givers in managing the persons in depression. The study was carried out among the family caregivers of persons with depression currently under treatment in LGBRIMH, Tezpur. The family caregivers of persons diagnosed either with Depressive episode or Recurrent depressive disorder with suicidal ideation, who have been taking treatment for at least 3 months were selected through purposive sampling technique. Written consent from the respondents has been collected before data collection. Data was collected through in-depth interviews from the respondents using an interview guide. Analysis of data has been done by thematic analysis.
The indentified challenges in managing persons with depression were, 1) Related to the persons with depression, like, difficulty in communicating, perceived burdensomeness; 2) Related to the family caregivers, like, lack of support, difficulty in treatment compliance, lack of knowledge; and 3) Related to the society, like, social pressure for faith healing and stigma.
Key words: Depression, family members, care givers, management, qualitative research