ABSTRACT
Depression is usually characterised as the common cold of mental health problems. Statistics indicating the prevalence of depression and related key studies are described in Georgina Charlesworth and Janet Carter’s contribution to this book (Chapter 4), so are not reiterated in detail here. Instead, I will focus on key models and psychological concepts that I have found helpful in understanding chronic problems of depression. This chapter describes a composite case study, ‘Mary’, to illustrate the problems of
chronic low mood in late life; she has to manage the vicissitudes of her current situation whilst also dealing with a legacy of psychological situations which have led to lifelong mood problems.
