“It’s been absolute hell,” Sara* says of the depression that has ripped through at least five generations of her family. Her great grandmother killed herself at the age of 35. Her grandmother ended her own life in 1988, after suffering for decades. Her great aunt spent 40 years in a German asylum, shunned from society for her depression. Her uncles, cousins, and children have all suffered from mental health issues. When her mother in Kamloops, B.C., suddenly started showing signs of major depressive disorder at age 60 — transforming from an outgoing, loving wife, mom and grandma to a hardly recognizable, dependent, low-energy “shell” — Sara says her life was turned upside down. Her mom was deeply sad, rapidly losing weight and needed Sara’s constant company.
