"I am strong and I can get on with my life": The subjective experience of recovery of patients treated for depression

Abstract

Depression has a high prevalence throughout the world, and its management and recovery still constitute a challenge for mental health professionals. Objective : The aim of the study was to characterize the subjective experience of recovery from depression based on the perspective of those who suffer from it.

Method : Forty participants from two South American countries, who had been or were currently being treated for depression, took part in semi-structured and in-depth interviews. Most participants were female (78%), with ages ranging from 22 to 63 years. Interviews were analyzed using Grounded Theory, creating a hierarchy of categories that represent participants' experience of recovery. The categories were subsequently organized around an emergent central phenomenon.

Results :"Transformation of the experience of the depressed self" was constructed as the main phenomenon that accounts for the subjective understanding of recovery. This transformation consists in an increase in self-acceptance, self-appreciation, and auto-biographical contextualization, coupled with an increase in agency and empowerment.

Conclusion : Recovery is experienced as a multidimensional process that goes beyond the absence of symptoms. Change is experienced as a result of active self-management and commitment. The relevance of person-centered perspectives and their subjectivity for managing depression is discussed.