5.2 Demographics of the Research Participants
5.3.1 Theme 1: Understanding depression
The participants defined depression as a mental state. They agreed that it can last for a long period of time when the person feels sad and hopeless, useless, and experiences the absence of a sense of belonging. Such people feel different from the rest and have negative thoughts and behaviours.
The participants understood that depression is something that is deeper than just feeling sad on a bad day.
5.3.1.1 Sub-theme: Conceptualization of depression from the view of participants
Most research participants had varying but interesting understandings of what depression is or how it could be defined. Their views and experiences are expressed verbatim and these excerpts may thus contain grammatical inaccuracies in the interest of authenticity.
Thembeka defined depression as follows:
“According to me, depression is a mental condition that makes a person feel like they are useless, makes a person feel like they don’t belong here on earth, they feel like akathwandwa (they are not loved). It makes a person feel like, ‘You know what! I am just different from everyone else and I should not be here.’ You see, so I think it pretty much is, depression is the mental state where a person does not see any good or positive thing that
74 | P a g e is happening in his or her life and that is what I have felt. It is a state of constantly seeing negative things, where the world is gloomy. That’s what depression is in my view.”
Themba’s face was troubled and he kept of covering his face with his hands. For a second I thought he wanted to pull out of the interview. I asked if he was ready for the interview and he consented, stating that depression was real and a dark cloud that most people were not able to openly admit or talk about. He said:
“Ma’m [referring to me as the researcher] depression is just a complex phenomenon. If I may say, it is just a complex term because is more about the mental illness, where there are so many kinds of troubles that, like, each person is experiencing, struggling with their self-esteem, and emotional well-being and psychological well-being.”
Nomvelo and Bright’s understanding of depression resonated something common as they both defined depressions as carrying a heavy emotional, psychological burden that does not allow one to be productive or live a happy life. The sufferer’s shoulders carry a heavy load, and the person lives in fear and doubt. One’s self-actualization is daily defeated and one constantly doesn’t see purpose or an element of agency in one’s life.
Depression is an emotional problem that can appear while a student is adjusting to the academic environment. Apart from depression, the most common emotional problems during this period are general discomfort, physical problems, anxiety, and a low self-esteem. These problems are important causes of university drop-out rates.
The self speaks of Maslow’s theory of human needs in a world where there are so many events that constantly threaten the psychological state of people, that the environment does not empower the person to accept that better days are coming and the future that does not look bright because of varying hardships and high standards and expectations that not every person could possible achieve. Parents and society at large set measures of or timelines for success which are presented as a one-size-fits-all approach. If one fails to achieve, that particular person assimilates negativity in the form of social constructs through words and accusations such as: What were you thinking?
/ You are not man enough! / This is not for people like you. / You are not serious in life. / You like
75 | P a g e wasting time and resources that could have been given to other people. Vulnerable people are addressed with social constructs like these. They occur spontaneously and they do not distinguish among age, gender, race, or the level of affluence, even though research has suggested that people whose poverty index is low are more prone to depression. Kirby (2021) also states that depression is not an easy thing to accept or talk about by men, and this was highly evident in Themba’s narrative and body language as he kept on hiding his face.
McLeod (2015) agrees that boys and men of different races find it difficult to talk about depression because it is associated with being weak or useless and is a stigma in most societies. Existing social constructs associate young boys or men who are experiencing depression with “softies, sissies, gays, and a mommy’s boy without giving them any form of psychosocial support. People who are talking about their depression and experiences are often accused of watching a lot of television.
People who are suffering from depression tend to see themselves as helpless, worthless, and inadequate. How they interpret the world around them is unrealistic in a negative way and they see the world as posing obstacles that cannot be handled. Lastly, they see the future as totally hopeless because their worthlessness will prevent their situation from improving.
Vela recounted that her state of mind felt as if she was controlled by someone she couldn’t see but she kept on taking instructions from the voice which told her what to do and what not to do. She admitted that depression affected her way of thinking:
“The first thing that comes to mind when you say depression, just a simple word, is
‘unhappy’ and every connotation that comes with negative emotions. It is a person who does not live in the normal way like everybody. They are shut down and they live in the world perceived and that is surrounded by darkness and negativity. And, I wouldn’t say darkness, but I’d say it is just the lack of light like everybody. So, for me in short, depression is the state of mind whereby there is only negativity surrounding your mind and the only thing about it is just negativity, doing negative things and thinking that you are in your own world that lacks light…alone.”
Ndumi said: