Open AccessStumbling Into Adulthood: Learning From Depression While Growing Up
Author(s) -
Rachel Grob,
Mark Schlesinger,
Meg Wise,
Nancy Pandhi
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
qualitative health research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.303
H-Index - 113
eISSN - 1552-7557
pISSN - 1049-7323
DOI - 10.1177/1049732320914579
Subject(s) - psychology , depression (economics) , psychological resilience , coping (psychology) , developmental psychology , narrative , adult development , identity (music) , clinical psychology , social psychology , linguistics , philosophy , physics , acoustics , economics , macroeconomics
Depression manifests in distinct ways across the life course. Recent research emphasizes how depression impedes development during emerging adulthood. However, our study-based on 40 interviews with emerging adults from multiple regions in the United States, analyzed following grounded theory-suggests a more complex narrative. Increasing experience with cycles of depression can also catalyze (a) mature perspectives and coping mechanisms that protect against depression's lowest lows; (b) deeper self-knowledge and direction, which in turn promoted a coherent personal identity; and (c) emergence of a life purpose, which fostered attainment of adult roles, skill development, greater life satisfaction, and enriched identity. Our synthesis reveals how depression during emerging adulthood can function at once as toxin, potential antidote, and nutritional supplement fostering healthy development. Our central finding that young adults adapt to rather than recover from depression can also enrich resilience theory, and inform both social discourse and clinical practice.