Capsule Commentary for Teo et al., The Importance of “Being There”: a Qualitative Study of What Veterans with Depression Want in Social Support

Excerpt

Teo et al. [1] aimed to describe how the patient’s social support impacted his or her depression care. They conducted qualitative interviews of 30 subjects with at least one positive depression screen, one primary care visit, and one close relationship. The authors identified “Being There” as their main theme, through the descriptions of close support, participation in depression care, and barriers to involving close support. The concept of “Being There” essentially involves either a literal presence, active monitoring of patient status, or perceived availability. Successful close contacts had the ability to “sense” the patient’s emotional state and were able to communicate indirectly about it. Barriers preventing patients from achieving this goal were concern for overburdening close supports, fear of provoking anxiety, and a tendency to manage depression without assistance. …