Psychosocial Assessment Paper on Willow Weep For Me

1 Psychosocial Assessment Paper on Willow Weep For Me Introduction Everyone can be affected by depression, but some have higher chances of falling into depression than others. For example, women are more likely to be depressed compared to men (Islam et al., 2020). However, despite this fact, women are still underrepresented in mental health clinical trials. According to Blakemore (2022) of the Washington Post, even though women make up 60% of people with depressive disorders, only 42% of trials for psychiatric drugs are female. Also, not everyone's voice has an equal chance of being heard in matters related to depression. For instance, books about mental health written by people of color are disproportionately fewer than those written by Whites.

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2 The memoir Willow Weep For Me by Meri Nana-Ama Danquah is a very insightful source of literature as it gives a black woman's firsthand account of her experience with depression. The memoir details how clinical depression affected Meri Nana-Ama Danquah as a family member, a writer, a black woman, and a human. Danquah explains in the memoir that depression coexists and interacts with personal and social events, history, and circumstances. She makes the reader realize that understanding depression requires the integration of social norms about gender, class, race, sexuality, and one's likes and dislikes. Doing so can enable individuals to consciously and with careful consideration choose what they believe and whom they desire to be so that they can achieve integrity and cohesion of spirit, mind, and action.

Clinical Analysis The main character in the story, Meri Nana-Ama Danquah, is a working-class but broke single mother. She started to experience depressive symptoms after giving birth, which made her suspect that she could be going crazy. At first, she tried to suppress the feelings by staying silent and living in denial. However, it reached a point when she could not live in denial anymore as her condition was affecting her career as a writer, and she had a hard time caring for her daughter Korama and maintaining personal relationships.

It is normal for individuals with depressive disorders to live in denial during the initial stages, and Nana was not left out. On page 58, while she was still in Los Angeles, She befriended Eugene Bledsoe, a writer for a Minnesota newspaper. When she told Eugene about her problems, Eugene told her that she might be having clinical depression. Her response was, "Severely depressed? Me? What are you talking about? What would make you think that?" Eugene told her that since she could not sleep well, had no appetite, would stay cooped inside the whole day, and her attitude sucked; it was very likely that she was severely depressed. Considering the

3 circumstances she had been through, like high-risk pregnancy, domestic violence, poverty, and single parenthood, she could not imagine being severely depressed. Eugene told her that his mother, Patricia Bledsoe suffered from depression for three decades. The Bledsoe family happened to come from Washington DC where Nana grew up. It was very respected and among the most prominent African American families in the area, and they lived in a four-level brick mansion. Nana could not believe that someone from the family could have depression for that long. When Nana visited Eugene at their home upon her return to Washington DC, she expected Patricia to be old, feeble, and weak. However, Patricia was over five feet tall, beautiful, and full of energy. This experience gave Nana a better understanding of depression.

During the denial stage, the victim may reject the idea that they are depressed altogether or admit that, for sure, they are down but console themselves that the feeling is temporary and they will get over it (Tyrell et al., 2023). Even though Nana knew that she was depressed, she believed that it was a temporary condition that would disappear.

Nana also went through some random episodes of anger. For instance, on page 72, she writes that at one point, Eugene called her and told her that he just wanted to check if she was up and about. Her response was, "I'm up already. I don't want to be monitored. Leave me alone".

This response is a clear sign of anger. According to MacDonald et al. (2020), individuals at this stage of depression often feel helpless and victimized. This may happen because the person does not know whom to turn to. Even though Nana had people like Eugene to whom she could turn, they could not solve her problems. MacDonald et al. (2020) also assert that depression can make one to be angry at the world, events around them, and even at themselves, and this anger is often hard to control and can affect relationships. All these descriptions fit Nana's anger.

4 Similar to those dealing with grief, those undergoing depression may also try to bargain.

Bargaining involves engaging in some activities (mostly not medically proven) to treat depression. Denquah knew from the start she had depression but thought did not see the need to seek help from a therapist. On page 16, she says that she swore never to take any chemical mood-altering substance to help her manage her depression and would therefore use music instead of coffee and cigarettes. She says that she would allow songs to reach out to her like hands and lift her to a more sacred state of consciousness. She also admits that she would abandon her bed, lover, lover, and apartment and get into her car to literally drive the depression away as the motion of cars and trains would surround and soothe her. Even though such therapies could have some impact, they are not effective in treating depression. There is no concrete evidence that driving or listening to music can treat depression. Trying to treat the problem using strategies is, therefore, a sign of bargaining. Nana bargained through several strategies before finally going for therapy.

One of the most effective steps that Nana took toward handling the problem was moving back to Washington DC, from LA. When she returned to Washington DC, her sister and mother could help her with babysitting, and she could have ample time to rest. However, things did not work as she had planned. She thought that reunion with her mother would give her the opportunity to heal. However, when her sister Paula and their mother were taking care of her daughter, another episode of depression was opened. She growingly became uncomfortable being hosted by her mother, and their relationship regressed. She resorted to drinking, and drinking alcohol became a home remedy and an ointment o rub on wounds (page 56). It is common for depressed individuals to take alcohol to suppress symptoms related to their condition, such as irritability, anxiety, loss of interest, insomnia, and restlessness. Alcohol is,

5 however, not effective in controlling depression. According to McHugh & Weiss (2019), alcohol can lower the levels of mood-regulating hormones like norepinephrine and serotonin, and this can worsen depression.

Her mental health regressed, and she started having strange dreams. On page 57, she would have dreams filled with water and nightmares of flames and heat. She kept dreaming that she was saving a girl. She did not know who the girl was, and there was no one who helped the girl apart from her. This would make her start her days a failure, knowing that the life of a small child had been placed in her hand, and if she did not intervene, there was nothing else she could do. Depression always affects the brain's chemistry and structure, and this can alter dream patterns (Garthus-Niegel et al., 2020). Dreams can help in regulating emotions. Nightmares are also common among depressed individuals.

In the end, Meri Nana-Ama Danquah decided to move back to her childhood city and befriended two black women, Jade and who was also suffering from depression. At that point, she was able to confront traumatic childhood events, sexual abuse, neglect, and grief. She had attempted to commit suicide during the summer before ninth grade (127). Her mother responded by providing tough love; she placed her on punishment. Establishing the origin of depression is very important during therapy. Her therapist used these past events as the basis of her therapy, and this, alongside other techniques like meditation and music, enabled her to overcome the problem.

How the Story Affected my Ability to Handle Depression At the very beginning of the memoir, one gets the impression that Nana might be suffering from Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). She starts by narrating how she had to make sure that there were fresh flowers in her house and at least four alarm clocks in the

6 bedroom. She could stare into the mirror until she identified the person staring back. She could sometimes find her image foreign and could move through the house like an intruder trying to avoid the temptation to crouch inside a corner just to zone out. These are signs of OCD. However, Nana does not leave much room for speculation as she states on page 18 that she had depression and could sometimes get into her car to try literally driving it away. I feel that Nana’s friends and sister knew how to handle her situation and were very supportive. However, her mother and daughter’s father. Her mother was very harsh and subjected her to severe punishments when she was young, and this significantly contributed to her mental health issues during adulthood. Her boyfriend also subjected her to domestic violence, and this prompted her to file for a restraining order. Her friends, like Jade and Eugene, on the other hand, were very supportive and could call her over the phone in the morning to check how she was doing. Unlike her friends, society was not very supportive in her opinion. Below are some quotes from the book which prove that she felt that society perceived her depression as her own fault and expected too much from her but was offering no help.

“White women who suffer from mental illness are depicted as idle, spoiled, or just plain hysterical. Black men are demonized and pathologized. Black women with psychological problems are certainly not seen as geniuses; we are generally not labeled ‘hysterical’ or ‘eccentric’ or even ‘pathological’. When a black woman suffers from a mental disorder, the overwhelming opinion is that she is weak. And weakness in black women is intolerable. (pg. 20)” I’ve frequently been told things like: “Girl, you’ve been hanging out with too many white folks"; “What do you have to be depressed about? If our people could make it through slavery, we can make it through anything"; “Take your troubles to Jesus, not no damn psychiatrist.” (pg.

21)

7 "I despise the way blackness in the English language symbolizes death and negativity.

Because I believe that the absorption of these connotations contributes to self-hate, I avoid them at all costs (pg 182).”

The part of the story that was the most difficult to deal with emotionally was when she was unable to work but had a child to take care of and an abusive boyfriend to handle. This boyfriend/common-law husband later kicked her out with a two-month-old baby. She could start reading stories from newspapers or books to find what to write but could get lost in thoughts midway. On page 41, she says that her relationship was a formula for disaster. She asserts that depressed people always attract unhealthy relationships thinking that the person will give meaning to their lives. Nana’s assumption that depressed people attract abusive people is accurate. Exploitative people are always attracted to people with low esteem, a trait common among depressed individuals, and that is how they always end up in relationships with depressed people. The question that this experience created in me is how the husband could be so inhuman.

I thought that maybe he did not understand what depression is, and it is possible that many people still cannot tell when a person they live with is depressed. The people who helped Nana the most were Eugene, Jade, and her therapist. They are the ones who ultimately helped her overcome depression. Even though she had a good relationship with her father before he divorced her mother, he played a significant role in her depression by cutting off ties with her.

She needed her father to help her deal with her abusive mother, and since he was not there, she had to face everything alone. The father ought to have remained in touch with her.

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References Blakemore, E. (2022, June 24). Women are still underrepresented in clinical trials. The Washington Post. Retrieved March 19, 2023, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2022/06/27/underrepresentation-womenclinical-trials/

9 Islam, S., Akter, R., Sikder, T., & Griffiths, M. D. (2020). Prevalence and factors associated with depression and anxiety among first-year university students in Bangladesh: a crosssectional study. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 1-14. DOI https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-020-00242-y Macdonald, J., Greenwood, C., Lauren M. Tessa, F. Graeme, L., Youssef1, G., Manno, L., Skouteris, H., Fletcher, R., Knight, T., Williams, J., Milgrom, J. & Olsson, C. (2020).

Profiles of Depressive Symptoms and Anger in Men: Associations With Postpartum Family Functioning. Frontiers in Psychiatry. Vol 11-2020. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.578114 McHugh, R. K., & Weiss, R. D. (2019). Alcohol use disorder and depressive disorders. Alcohol research: current reviews, 40(1). DOI: https://doi.org/10.35946%2Farcr.v40.1.01 Tyrell, P., Harberger, S., Schoo, C., & Siddiqui, W. (2023). Kubler-Ross Stages of Dying and Subsequent Models of Grief. National Library of Medicine. Retrieved from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK507885/ Garthus-Niegel, S., Staudt, A., Kinser, P., Haga, S. M., Drozd, F., & Baumann, S. (2020).

Predictors and changes in paternal perinatal depression profiles—insights from the DREAM study. Frontiers in psychiatry, 1127.