Understanding and helping depressed women

A grounded theory study was conducted to examine the process of recovery for women who have been depressed. The purpose of this study was to enhance our understanding of the recovery process of women with depression by exploring the women's experience directly. The study found that the basic social psychological process of women's recovery from depression could be summarized as (re)defining the self. (Re)Defining the self differs significantly from the common conceptualisations of depression recovery, which focus on signs and symptoms without consideration of the woman or the social context in which her life is situated. (Re)Defining the self is a model that considers the woman as a holistic organism existing within a complex network of social interactions. Because (re)defining the self provides a new perspective for understanding women's experience with depression, there are significant implications for the way we provide nursing care. This paper discusses those implications.