Nell Casey
What advice do you have for families?
It is really critical to have a tag team of care giving in the family. You
need to understand how to ration your energy, although it's hard to do
because you don't know how long the situation will last. You need to be
supportive of each other.
Know that you are being helpful to a depressed family member even when it
seems like you're not. I was surprised to hear Maud say that it was important
to have the consistent stubborn support of family there all the time. There
were so many moments when I thought that I was not getting through to her.
Also, realize that there are so many aspects of getting better and one of
them is that the depressed person has to decide to get better. Maud made the
decision to pull her life together and leave some of her support systems.
There has to be a decision by the person with depression to get better, among
other factors, such as medication, therapy, and family support.
