What is Depression

Depression is something variously estimated to afflict between 5 and 10% of the North American adult population at any particular time. As such, it represents a major community health issue. This chapter uses an auto-ethnographic approach to analyze the adult learning tasks associated with dealing with depression. After situating his own experience as a person who suffers from depression, the author uses his narrative to analyze four learning tasks: learning to overcome shame, learning to engage in ideological detoxification, learning to normalize despair, and learning to calibrate treatment. Central to each of these tasks is the act of public disclosure. The chapter ends by suggesting directions for future research in this neglected area of adult education.