Contributing Factors

A 2005 American Journal of Psychiatry study found that only half of families with a depressed member perceived their own family functioning as healthy. Meanwhile, clinicians rated 70 percent of those same families as unhealthy. This is because chronic depressive illness can be contagious. Family members and coworkers can become depressed because of the intense stress of living and working with a depressed person. Today we're honing in on the social context of depression. We'll explore this through the perspectives of an individual with depression along with her family members, plus a medical sociologist, a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner, and a federally-funded social worker. Please remember that nothing in this episode should be or can be taken as medical advice.