People with depression do not seek medical attention because of the probability of receiving antidepressants rather than because of their fear of diagnosis.
This conclusion has been made by the representatives of the University of California. The scientists have studied 1,000 Americans. All of them had overt symptoms of depression and other mental disorders, but were in no hurry to seek medical attention. 43% of people said they really did not want to tell their doctor about the symptoms of their illness. They were especially afraid of antidepressants. This was publicly stated by 23% of people. 16% believed that they were able to cope with the emotional difficulties on their own since they did not consider it to be the work of the doctor. Another 16% were worried by the fact that the entry of their diagnosed depression would ruin a medical card.
According to Dr. Hellerstein from New York State Psychiatric Institute and Columbia University Medical Center, this study will be useful for understanding the behavior of the patients.
Source of the image: Photl.
