Clinical Depression

My great aunt, Jean Cooper, deals with clinical depression. I call her grandma Jean. Grandma Jean is divorced with two daughters and she resides in her colossal home located in Thousand Oaks California. Over the summer I had visited her after nine years. Spending time with my great aunt gave me an insight of her depression which changed my view of life.

One side effect my great aunt’s depression is her consistency to hoard objects. It was a long night and I had just returned to my great aunt’s house. Tired and excited she greeted me. When I saw her I was surprised. This time around she had looked pale and sickly but, I ignored it as I believed that the body would deteriorate from old age. I entered the dark crowded house and she brought me to my room. The room was surrounded by multiple coat hangers and various boxes of old clothes, the only empty part of the room was a corner that had my bed. She then guided me to the bathroom which was in her bedroom. Once again the room was crowded. Her bed was engulfed in a sea of trash mail and assorted boxes. I then entered a dim lit bathroom. Nail polish and q tips paraded the sink. I then looked at the shower which also acted as a rack to dry clothes. This moment triggered my sorrow for her condition.

Depression affects the cognitive part of the brain which controls the ability to concentrate.

This also causes slowness in activity. I had just finished packing to leave the hotel I was staying at with my great aunt and her sisters and everyone began to leave the room. My great aunt was the last one packing and once again everyone had began to heat up. I walked back to the room to help her and to my surprise she had been cleansing the hotel room which was a job left for the cleaning service. I gripped her heavy bags and headed outside. I exited the hotel barraged with nagging coming from the sisters. They shoes to compassion for her late

arrival.
I had just finished getting ready and I was heading out the door. That day we
were going to eat lunch that day with her sisters. We waited in the blazing heat of the car and the sisters became angry waiting for my aunt. I walked inside the dim lit house and to my surprise I heard crying coming from a room. I walked in the room and to my surprise my aunt was sobbing in a corner. As soon as she noticed me she acted as if nothing happened. I comforted her and led her outside.
I felt bad for leaving grandma Jean because of her condition. From my firsthand experience of her depression I had learned how it is important to never give up on family. The way that Jean’s family handled her condition fondled me and I understand that there may be something that I do not understand. As I move on in life I can look back at the situation of my great aunt and apply my own moral understandings so that I may help others.