Life interrupted : exploring biographies of young adults living with depression

Abstract

Background: Depression is a leading cause of disability globally. It is estimated that 3 out of 4 people have suffered from major depression at some point in their lives and if severe, might be accompanied by thoughts of self-harm or even suicide. Depression as a chronic illness is a disruptive experience that invades all aspects of the lives of young adults living with it, introducing the person to pain, suffering, blocking normative age-related transitioning.

Objectives: This research aims at studying age, particularly young adults as a key factor in the exploration of disruptions and strategies of adaptation, whilst generating arguments about participants’ perspectives on the local mental health services.

Research model: This research used qualitative model to address the objectives of this study. Triangulation method was adopted for data collection, whereby 3 methods were used to add breadth and depth to the study.

Participants: 8 young adults (18-24 years) who have depression were interviewed (7 participated in one-to-one interview and 1 participated in an interview facilitated by photos), and 5 professionals working in mental health settings participated in a focus group.

Methodology: Qualitative methods consisted in: one-to-one interviews, interview facilitated by photos and focus group. Purposive sampling was used for 3 methods. Interviews and focus group were audiotaped, transcribed and thematically analysed guided by Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis.

Results: Three super-ordinate themes have emerged from data collection and provided a complete picture of the participants’ lived experience. Such themes included, Consequences of depression, Mobilization of Resources and Participants’ perspectives on local mental health services.

Conclusion: This small-scaled study is not representative, yet provides a broad understanding of the subject matter owing to the involvement of young adults with depression who shared their experiences. Recommendations from this study include: the plea for further research that could raise the bar for mental illness, fair and equal opportunities for young people who have mental illness, the utilization of Bury’s theory of biographical disruption to understand narratives and address the needs of individuals living with mental illness, to generate awareness about youths and depression and to help families to learn how to cope when a family member is living with mental illness, to target stigma through awareness campaigns and health literacy programs, to embrace technological methods and develop suitable ICT resources that address the wellbeing of young people, to develop youth-friendly services that are modern, flexible and specialised, to provide adequate clinical resources to offer bespoke healthcare services that address the health needs and health risks of young people living in a changing world.