Original Research

Life stories of depressed adult women in peri-urban Namibia

NN Shifiona, M Poggenpoel, CPH Myburgh
Curationis | Vol 29, No 2 | a1063 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/curationis.v29i2.1063 | © 2006 NN Shifiona, M Poggenpoel, CPH Myburgh | This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 28 September 2006 | Published: 28 September 2006

About the author(s)

NN Shifiona, School of Nursing, University of Johannesburg, South Africa
M Poggenpoel, School of Nursing, University of Johannesburg, South Africa
CPH Myburgh, Department of Educational Psychology, University of Johannesburg, South Africa

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Abstract

The problems with women in peri-urban Namibie are faced with are multi-dimensional.Like women in other communities they face the pressure of having a number of responsibilities, namely working, being a wife and mother, taking care of their families and perhaps caring for aging parents. Sometimes the pressure can be too overwhelming to manage. As a result, many women become depressed. Studies on depression among black African women in Namibia could not be traced. It was therefore considered to find out how women suffering from depression from this part of the world tell their life stories.
The purpose of the study was two-fold: Firstly, to explore and describe the life stories of depressed adult women in peri-urban Namibia, and secondly to use the information obtained to describe guidelines for psychiatric nurses working with these patients at psychiatric outpatient clinics as well as in the community.
A qualitative phenomenological research design of an explorative, descriptive and contextual nature was used. The researcher approached the subjects and their experiences with an open mind. Ten depressed adult women between 21-55 years were involved in the research. The researcher strived to adhere to the principles of trustworthiness. To ensure this Guba’s model (in Krefting, 1991: 217) of trustworthiness was adopted. All the interviews were analysed following Tesch’s method (Creswell, 1994: 154-55). The services of an independent coder were obtained.
The results indicated that impaired interpersonal interactions and stressful life events have a negative influence on the daily life of women leading to the development of depressive symptoms. Guidelines to support psychiatric nurses working with depressed women were drawn up.

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Crossref Citations

1. Experiences of women living with borderline personality disorder
N. Ntshingila, M. Poggenpoel, C.P.H. Myburgh, A. Temane
Health SA Gesondheid  vol: 21  first page: 110  year: 2016  
doi: 10.1016/j.hsag.2016.01.001