“I’m always going to be tired”: A qualitative exploration of adolescents’ experiences of fatigue in depression

Nina Higson-Sweeney, Kate Cooper, Barney Dunn, Maria Loades

Research output: Contribution to conferencePosterpeer-review

Abstract

Adolescent depression is a prevalent and disabling condition, but current psychological treatments are only moderately effective. One way to improve outcomes is to further our understanding of adolescent depression and our capacity to target the most frequent and problematic symptoms, like fatigue. Despite fatigue being common, highly disabling, and having the potential to interfere with adolescents’ engagement in psychological therapies for depression, it is poorly understood and often left unaddressed by treatments provided in routine mental health services. The current study aimed to explore adolescents’ lived experiences of fatigue in depression, from the perspectives of a mixed clinical and community sample. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 19 UK-based adolescents aged 14-18 years old (M = 16.16, SD = 1.01) with elevated symptoms of depression. Data was analysed using reflexive thematic analysis, which generated three themes. ‘Fatigue is a complex concept’ explores adolescents’ understanding of fatigue as a dynamic, complex symptom, which has mental and physical components. ‘Trapped in a cycle of fatigue’ considers the reciprocal relationship between fatigue and other depressive symptoms, and how a subsequent lack of energy affects adolescents’ engagement in everyday activities. The final theme, ‘stigma as a barrier to help-seeking’, highlights adolescents’ reluctant to seek help for fatigue due to experienced stigma, and the perception that fatigue is not serious enough to discuss with clinicians. Findings from the study highlight the complexity of fatigue within adolescent depression, some of the challenges that might present in clinical practice, and future directions for research.

Conference

Conference4th Annual Institute of Mental Health International Conference
CityLondon
Period20/09/2320/09/23
Internet address

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