Depression, whether mild or severe, can have profound effects on other family members. While everyone feels sad sometimes, depression is a serious condition that can affect every aspect of a person’s life and the lives of those around him. Understanding what depression is and how it affects the depressed person and other members of your family can help give you the tools you need to get through the difficult times and provide the support your depressed family member needs.
Effects
Family members of an individual with depression may feel helpless and frustrated if it seems like nothing they do helps lift the depressed individual’s spirits. Depressed people often withdraw from family activities and conversations, which may anger or sadden other family members. Depression can cause changes in appetite, alertness and sleeping patterns, making it difficult for the person with the condition to engage with other family members. Sexual desire often decreases in depressed individuals. Mothers with postpartum depression may lack interest in their babies, making childcare difficult.
Significance
While emotional difficulties and frustrations are the most common effects on family members of depressed individuals, depression can lead to other serious family complications. Arguments between the depressed individual and other family members may be common when they try to help. Depressed adults may experience relationship problems with their significant others due to lack of sexual interest and emotional withdrawal.
Severely depressed people often find it difficult to concentrate, and the condition may alter their performance at work, leading to discipline or unemployment, which can put a heavy financial strain on a family. A single parent who suffers from depression may find it difficult to care for children and provide a stable home environment.
Considerations
By sitting down and discussing depression and its effects with all family members in terms everyone can understand, you can minimize some of the potential problems. If you are dealing with a depressed family member, making yourself available to talk and listening to the depressed individual’s concerns is important.
Parents of children and teens who are depressed should not try to talk them out of their depression by telling them it’s just their age or a phase, warns HelpGuide.org. Instead, validate a child’s feelings and offer genuine support. Encouraging a depressed family member to see a doctor or psychologist may be helpful. It is important not to force the issue, but gentle suggestions may help motivate a person to seek outside help.
Misconceptions
Family members of depressed people may feel inclined to blame themselves for the person’s depression. Children often have a difficult time understanding depression, particularly if a parent is the depressed individual. You may feel like changing everything to accommodate the depressed person will cause her to “get better.” It is important to be supportive and patient, but it’s equally important to realize that depression is a psychological condition that often requires the help of a trained counselor, therapy sessions and/or medication to help relieve the symptoms.
Warning
If you have a depressed family member, be aware of the signs of severe depression that could lead to the individual harming himself or attempting suicide. Monitoring for suicide is especially important if the depressed individual is a child or young adult who takes antidepressants. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration requires antidepressants to carry a warning label stating that there is a potential for an increased risk of suicide in children and young adults. This risk is highest during the first two months of treatment, according to HelpGuide.org.
Never take talk or threats of suicide lightly. Do not leave a depressed individual who is contemplating or talking about suicide alone. Contact the prescribing physician or a suicide hotline, such as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255. Keep guns, pills and other dangerous items locked up away from severely depressed individuals with a high suicide risk.
References
- Mayo Clinic: Depression: Supporting a Family Member or Friend
- Teens Health from Nemours: Depression
- "American Family Physician"; Depression and Sexual Desire; Robert Phillips Jr. and James Slaughter; Aug. 15, 2000
- Kids Health from Nemours: Understanding Depression
- HelpGuide.org: Postpartum Depression and the Baby Blues
