In all social groups, major depression is an increasingly serious

problem in modern society. Important aspects of a person’s capacity

for recovery are the person’s own understanding of the illness

and the ability to use this understanding to manage the illness.

The aim of this study is to describe how individuals with major

depression understand their illness and use their understanding to

handle it. Twenty participants treated in community care formajor

depression as determined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual

of Mental Disorders were interviewed between February and

June, 2008. Content analysis of the interviews revealed threemajor

themes: (1) awakening insight, (2) strategies for understanding and

managing, and (3) making use of understanding, each with additional

subthemes. Individual understandings of the illness varied

and led to differences in the ways participants were able to handle

their depression. In clinical care it is essential to support an

individual’s understanding of depression and his or her use of that

understanding to handle the illness.