Abstract

MARQUES, Maria de Fátima  and  LOPES, Manuel José. The family caregiver in the eyes of the person with depression. Revista Portuguesa de Enfermagem de Saúde Mental [online]. 2015, n.spe2, pp.51-56. ISSN 1647-2160.

BACKGROUND:The caregiver role, taken by the relative, is not always welcomed by the person who suffers from depression, what has an impact in family life, mainly in interpersonal relations. AIM:To characterize depression in the eyes of those who live it; to characterize the family caregiver role in patient’s eyes; to describe patient’s reactions in his relation with family caregivers. METHODS:Qualitative and inductive nature investigation with the use of Grounded Theory. Intentional non-probability selection of participants. Carry out of a semi-structured interview. RESULTS:The depressed person identifies the beginning of the disease, its causes, characteristics and manifestations. The patient experiences depression in an intimate way, developing tackling and management of his clinical situation strategies. In his eyes, the relative fails its caregiver role due to excessive control, lack of understanding, incapacity to listen, emotional blackmail and, sometimes, verbal aggression. The depressed person does not believe his relative is capable of helping him, does not accept him as a caregiver, ignores all his advices and interventions and his feeling of loneliness increases. CONCLUSIONS:When there is someone in family who suffers from depression, relatives build the role of caregiver in everyday interaction, and caregiving strategies get developed in a reactive way, according to patient’s behavior, acquiring particular outlines of content that, sometimes, does not fit patient’s health condition. The patient feels uncared-for and does not recognize his relative as an active partner in his recovery process.

Keywords : Depressed person; Family caregiver; Depression.

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