Joanna Agnew’s depression

Joanna Agnew’s depression is described through Michael Agnew’s account of her illness and treatment. The details establish both the seriousness of her condition and its practical effect on the household: while she was hospitalized and their son was at school, Michael was able to spend more time with Cushla Lavery.

Condition and treatment

Michael says that Joanna is an alcoholic and is being treated for depression. At times, he returns home to find her curled on the floor. More than a month before the conversation, she had been admitted to hospital for another course of electric shocks, indicating that this treatment was not a first occurrence. His account is matter-of-fact, but its details convey an illness that repeatedly interrupts ordinary life.

Family life and narrative significance

Joanna’s condition does not define every moment of family life. Michael says that she is sometimes well enough after treatment to do things; after their son finished his A levels, he took Joanna and their son out for lunch. The contrast between such an outing and the episodes he describes at home resists reducing her to a single state of illness.

Her hospitalization also becomes part of Michael’s explanation for his availability to Cushla. When asked whether he could see Cushla so often because Joanna was in hospital and their son was at school, he confirms that this was the case. Joanna’s depression is thus presented not only as a private health struggle but as a circumstance shaping the concealed relationship around her.