title: Being stuck in a vice: The process of coping with severe depression in late life.
abstract: Articles describing older persons' experiences of coping with severe depression are, to our knowledge, lacking. This article is methodologically grounded in phenomenological hermeneutics, inspired by Paul Ricoeur, and applies a descriptive design with in-depth interviews for producing the data. We included 18 older persons, 13 women and 5 men, with a mean age of 77.9 years, depressed to a severe or moderate degree, 1-2 weeks after admission to a hospital for treatment of depression. We found the metaphor "being in a vice" to capture the essence of meaning from the participants' stories, and can be understood as being stuck in an immensely painful existence entirely dominated by depression in late life. This is the first article where coping in older men and women experiencing the most severe phase of depression is explored.
authors.affiliation: Norwegian National Advisory Unit on Ageing and Health, Vestfold Hospital Trust, Tønsberg, Norway.|Department for Mental Health Research and Development, Division for Mental health and addiction, Vestre Viken Hospital Trust, Lier, Norway.|Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; Guro.Bjorklof@aldringoghelse.no.
authors.forename: Guro Hanevold
authors.initials: GH
authors.lastname: Bjørkløf
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Marit
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kirkevold
authors.affiliation: Norwegian National Advisory Unit on Ageing and Health, Vestfold Hospital Trust, Tønsberg, Norway.
authors.forename: Knut
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Engedal
authors.affiliation: Norwegian National Advisory Unit on Ageing and Health, Vestfold Hospital Trust, Tønsberg, Norway.|Research Centre of Old Age Psychiatry, Innlandet Hospital Trust, Ottestad, Norway.
authors.forename: Geir
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Selbæk
authors.affiliation: Norwegian National Advisory Unit on Ageing and Health, Vestfold Hospital Trust, Tønsberg, Norway.|Department of Public Health and General Practice, Faculty of Medicine, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway.|St Olav's University Hospital, Trondheim, Norway.
authors.forename: Anne-Sofie
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Helvik
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009664:Norway; D036301:Qualitative Research; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: Lived experience; coping; depression; older people