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Negotiating the Interpretation of Depression Shared Among Kin.

Claire Snell-RoodRichard MerkelNancy E Schoenberg
Published in: Medical anthropology (2018)
Kinship processes contribute to the experience and interpretation of depression-generating empathy as well as silencing. We explore intersubjective experiences of depression among kin with the aim of understanding how depression can reveal kinship expectations and evolving concepts of distress. In interviews with 28 low-income rural Appalachian women about their depression, participants articulated depression as a social process that neither starts nor ends in themselves. Yet kinship obligations to recognize family members' depression limited women's ability to admit distress, let alone request care. The intersubjective experience of depression among kin can challenge the individual expression of distress.
Keyphrases
  • depressive symptoms
  • healthcare
  • mental health
  • gene expression
  • palliative care
  • metabolic syndrome
  • pregnant women
  • chronic pain
  • insulin resistance
  • binding protein
  • pregnancy outcomes