How well do you think Kanigel understood Maura's depression at the time? Do you think he'd have reacted differently if he'd been older?

Kanigel writes often about Maura's depression. How well do you think he understood the condition at the time? Do you think he'd have reacted differently if he'd been older? If their relationship had taken place today, do you think he would have been more understanding?

I don't think he understood it. He was wrapped up in his own life and, in his youth, probably didn't comprehend what depression really was. The wisdom of age may have given him more empathy and understanding. Today mental health is an open topic and better understood so their relationship might have fared better in today's world.

I agree with Marcia. I also think he would have better understood if he had been born later and encountered Maura at the same age. Today's understanding of mental illness, while not complete, is much better than it was in the late 1960s and early 70s.

I agree - mental health knowledge and understanding has improved significantly over the last 50 years - his reaction today would likely be different.

I also agree that he just didn’t understand depression and what it does. But even today many people still believe that a person should “just cheer up,” or even worse, that a depressed person is just lazy. I’ve dealt with those attitudes and others. So I’m not sure he would have been more understanding if he had been older.

He saw Maura as a "life force" so of course, it was hard for him to understand her depression. He was looking to her for new ways to live his own life so how could he really understand the degree to which she needed help herself.

I agree with Lyris that Kanigel saw Maura as a "life force" - she was kind of a muse to him during this period in life, so he wouldn't have considered her as depressed. And he was so young, so self-absorbed as well as looking at Maura who was older as the kind of person he could ground himself in. So, I don't think he'd be looking at her as being depressed. Plus I've learned having worked in counseling years ago that people often don't see themselves or others as depressed, and accept certain behaviors as "normal." It often happens that until a "light bulb" comes one that we realize we need help too.

I agree with most of the previous posters but especially mceacd. Most people are uncomfortable around people who are “down” and just want them to be better. So Kanigel at a young age just needed Maura to “snap out of it” so they could get on with the life he was envisioning for them. Unless he took the time to understand all the ways mental health falls out of the norm, I don’t believe an older Kanigel would have understood Maura any better.

Even though Rob acknowledged Maura told him about her depressive episodes, I don’t think he was able to comprehend the complexity of depression because of his own limited life experiences and because of how mental illness was treated clinically in the 1960s. I want to believe Rob would have responded differently if he were older, but I honestly think his age (in his mid 20’s) was not a factor in his response to her depression. I was frustrated and disappointed by how he spoke to Maura. It seemed cruel and very hard-hearted. I also don’t think his response would have been different if this had taken place today. He seemed a bit too self-absorbed and seemed to lack empathy for how others feel.

I think at his age and experience he was not understanding what Maura was going through. While every one doesn't have to experience depression to understand it, there are some who just don't get it.

He didn’t understand it. His age and experience probably were big contributors.

He did not understand it well at all. Even today, clinical depression (and many other mental health conditions) isn't well understood by the general public. There is still, despite all the efforts made to combat it, a stigma attached to mental health problems and treatment. Think of that TV commercial in which the young woman is walking around with a masking device saying "I tried to hide my depression." It's an ad for a certain medication. If he had been older at the time, I don't think it would have mattered. The state of knowledge at the time was the same regardless of age. Today, he can understand better, but not necessarily because he is older; the knowledge and treatment methods have improved.