Research

Every year, about seventeen million people of all ages are affected by depression (Depression facts, 2001). Depression is not just a state of being sad, it is a disease that takes over your ability to feel any emotion whatsoever. It affects your mind, body, and thoughts. Although all age groups are affected by depression, teenagers are the most common to be heard of being affected. This is probably caused by matters like peer pressure and the changes that they must deal with at that time in their life (Depression Facts, 2001). Because depression affects numerous people, it is second only to cancer on the impact that it has on our society. The cost to the United States economy every year is around forty billion dollars (Depression facts, 2001). Even though it is such a common disease, there is not a large organization to help people who suffer from depression. Because of this the family becomes important when dealing with depression. To help a family cope with depression, the disease needs to be defined and understood in order to implement help or coping mechanisms.
What is Depression Like?
Depression is a difficult illness to deal with. The person with depression has to deal with fighting the illness, which Anne Sheffield, author of Sorrows Web: Overcoming the Legacy of Maternal Depression, says feels like “You become unbearably miserable, lethargic, and incapable of any joy or enthusiasm” (Kase,2014). They become overwhelmed with a feeling of emptiness and despair and are no longer able to function and enjoy life like they did before (Kase,2014). Some people have even described it as living in a black hole. This all can be a great risk factor for suicide, causing worry for the family. This disease can take a large t...

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...at they are not weak and they will get better.
In order for a family to cope with depression, help or coping mechanisms need to be implemented after the disease is fully understood. The family needs to be there for their loved one throughout the whole process. They play an extremely important role in overcoming depression. Because this can be exceptionally stressful for the family, remember that if you ever have someone in your family that is depressed, you need to take care of yourself too. If you let all of your feelings pile up without talking to anyone, it will become impossible to properly help your family member. Even worse than that, you could also become depressed, leaving even more stress and worry on your other family members. Do not think that it is selfish to take care of yourself. You could actually be doing your family a favor in the long run.