Fear of antidepressants prevents reporting depression

Fear of antidepressants prevents reporting depression

By Liz Lockhart

The fact that depression often goes unreported is well documented, however, it would now appear that the main reason for this is that people are afraid to discuss their depression with their GP because they fear that they will be prescribed an antidepressant.

In a new study researchers questioned patients about their beliefs about clinical depression and also asked them why they would not tell their primary care physician about their depression symptoms.  1,054 adults were surveyed for the purpose of this study.

The study was led by Robert Bell, Ph.D., of the University of California, Davis and colleagues.

The most common reason given for not wanting to discuss depression with a doctor was not wanting to be put on medication.

• Over 23% of the participants said that they did not want to go on antidepressants such as Wellbutrin, Effexor, Prozac or Paxil.  These, say the researchers, are some of the common psychiatric medications prescribed for depression.
• 16% of patients said that they didn’t think that talking about emotional issues was a part of their doctor’s job.  They also expressed concerns about the privacy of their medical records and were worried about who may have access to that information.

Other reasons for not wanting to report depression include the fear of being referred to a mental health professional and the concern of being branded as a psychiatric patient with a mental disorder diagnosis.

The least likely to talk to their physician about depression were more likely to be women, have a lower income and have less education. Those also less likely to express concerns over depression to their GP are people of Hispanic origin.

Factors that influence a person on whether they feel comfortable to talk to their doctor about depression include the thought that being diagnosed with depression is stigmatising.  Some of the participants believed that it was a depression was a matter of willpower.  They considered that a person should simply be able to will their depression away.

Many people still fear acknowledging their depressive symptoms despite the fact that depression is one of the most commonly diagnosed mental disorders.  It can be successfully treated in most people with a combination of medication and psychotherapy.

Source: Annals of Family Medicine