Narrative Therapy & Depression

Depression, also called major depressive disorder or unipolar disorder, is a psychiatric disorder marked by a prolonged sad or depressed mood. Depression can be a very serious condition, and there are many treatments. One possible treatment for depression is narrative therapy, a type of therapy where people tell their life stories.

About Depression

• Depression is a very common and severe mental illness. It is characterized by a depressed or sad mood that lasts longer than two weeks. Although everyone feels sad at some point in their lives, people with depression feel sad more often than not for prolonged periods of time. Depression may also be marked by other symptoms, such as anxiety, feelings of hopelessness, worthlessness, guilt, fatigue, loss of interest or pleasure in once enjoyable activities, irritability, difficulty concentrating, insomnia or excessive sleeping, increased or decreased appetite and weight gain or weight loss.

About Narrative Therapy

• In narrative therapy, the person seeking treatment can tell his or her own story to the therapist. The therapist focuses on stories that are deeply personal and true to the experience of daily life. These stories can help some people to make sense of their lives, and understand the assumptions they carry around with them. For example, someone may tell a story about a time he or she felt foolish. This storytelling might help that person understand that he or she has always had the assumption that he or she is deeply foolish. Then the therapist can work with him or her to change that assumption. The stories of a person's life may also reveal and help him or her consider his or her life relationships.

Effectiveness of Narrative Therapy

• Narrative therapy is difficult to study, because it is so unique to each person receiving therapy. Each person has a different story to tell, and may tell it in a different way. However, there are some studies on the effectiveness of narrative therapy. A pilot study at the Trimbos Institute in the Netherlands showed a moderate improvement in depression among people who were treated with a narrative based intervention. A small study of families who experienced narrative therapy showed that all the families believed the therapy was helpful for their situation.

Narrative Therapy and Other Disorders

• Narrative therapy can also be a powerful tool in helping people deal with grief. Telling stories can help a person find meaning in loss, and move forward. Narrative therapy can help families who are struggling with mental illness or interpersonal conflicts by encouraging family members to listen to their stories and the stories of their family members to gain a deeper understanding about each other. Narrative therapy is also worthwhile for the elderly, who may be searching for meaning and a better understanding of their lives, and who might want to clarify and understand their life goals.

Benefits of Narrative Therapy

• When someone has the opportunity to tell a deeply personal story, it can be an empowering experience. Oppressed or marginalized people often do not have the opportunity to share their experiences, and narrative therapy can give them a place to express themselves. Often narrative therapy can be very helpful for multicultural counseling because it gives the therapist a way to relate to and understand someone of a different culture on his or her terms. It can also help someone rewrite her or his own personal narrative to reflect her or his own life, instead of the dominant cultural narrative, which may be racist or unfair to that person.