Depression embodied: an ambiguous striving against fading

Although depression is associated to physical discomfort, meanings of the body in depression are rarely addressed in clinical research. Drawing on the concept of the lived body, this study explores depression as an embodied phenomenon. Using a hermeneutic phenomenological approach, the analysis of narrative‐based interviews with 11 depressed adults discloses a thematic structure of an embodied process of an ambiguous striving against fading. Five subthemes elicit different dimensions of this process, interpreted as disabling or enabling: feeling estranged, feeling confined, feeling burdensome, sensing life and seeking belongingness. In relation to clinical practice, we suggest that the interdisciplinary team can focus on enhancing the enabling dimensions, for example through guided physical activities to support the patient to feel more alive, capable and connected. Moreover, we suggest that the treatment process benefits from an increased awareness of the ambiguity in the patient's struggle, acknowledging both destructive and recharging elements of the withdrawing, and the perceived conflict in‐between.     

New Zealand Emergency Medicine Network: A collaboration for acute care research in New Zealand

The specialty of emergency medicine in Australasia is coming of age. As part of this maturation there is a need for high‐quality evidence to inform practice. This article describes the development of the New Zealand Emergency Medicine Network, a collaboration of committed emergency care researchers who share the vision that New Zealand/Aotearoa will have a world‐leading, patient‐centred emergency care research network, which will improve emergency care for all, so that people coming to any ED in the country will have access to the same world‐class emergency care.