A new study reveals that helping a parent in a situation of addiction, although stressful, could ward off symptoms of depression.
- In France, the number of caregivers is estimated at 9 million people, with an average age of 49 years. 60% of caregivers are women.
- One study found that, among child caregivers, “simply providing care for their mothers alleviated their symptoms of depression” caused by the situation.
- “There might be something protective about being able to help the people we love,” according to the lead author of the research.
They assist a loved one with daily tasks such as shopping or cleaning, they watch over their health, they support them in administrative procedures, etc. More than nine million French people would today be “carers” of one of their loved ones who are losing their autonomy or have a disability. Each with its own set of difficulties.
“It is often imagined that the negatives far outweigh the positives, that caregiving is a chronic stressor that contributes to worsening health and well-being. But this is not always the case. exact” : a new study reveals that those who help their loved ones may actually be less affected by depression than those who… don’t help.
Providing care for a loved one “attenuates” the feeling of depression
As part of their work, published in the journal Advances in Life Course Research, researchers from the University of Texas at Austin (United States) followed for years a group of adults over 50 whose mothers were still alive. They analyzed changes in their mental health as some mothers became disabled or cognitively impaired, and so their children took care of them.
The scientists first found, unsurprisingly, that child caregivers became increasingly depressed as they saw their mothers’ health deteriorate. A depressive state “mainly due to a loved one experiencing serious health problems”can we read in a communicated. This is in line with previous studies which had shown that caregivers had, de facto, an increased risk of depression compared to non-caregivers.
But researchers have especially observed, among child caregivers, that “mere caregiving for their mother alleviated their symptoms of depression” caused by the sad situation, “as a positive experience that gives them meaning and purpose.”
“Stressful experiences make us more resilient”
“This suggests that there might be something protective about being able to help the people we love, says Professor Sae Hwang Han, who led the study. There is no denying that caregiving can be a very stressful experience. But some stressful experiences also make us more resilient and help us grow.”
A 2021 studyalso led by Professor Han and his team, reached the same conclusion with spouses: taking care of one’s partner in difficulty was associated with a lower risk of suffering from depression.
