"Getting on with life": Women's experiences and ways of coping with depression

This study explored women's experiences of depression, and in particular ho w women living in rural communities understand, experience, and cope with f eelings of distress unaided by professional help. Participants were 15 wome n living in rural areas of central New Brunswick who completed a semi-struc tured interview lasting, on average, 75 minutes. The purpose of the intervi ew was to explore their experiences of depression and their ways of coping with these experiences. The women's accounts were analyzed using thematic a nd discourse analysis methods. A central theme revealed in the analysis was that women's understanding of their experiences was interwoven with their attempts to live up to the ideals and practices of the "good" woman. Within ;this context, depressive experiences were viewed as a taken-for-granted or expected part of their everyday lives.