Significados de la experiencia de enfermedad en mujeres con diagnóstico de depresión y abandono tratamiento

Description

Major depression is a pathology of high prevalence in Chile and the world, with repercussion in the quality of life of people. The proper treatment of this pathology has proven to be effective and is considered a health priority. An obstacle in the achievement of this purpose is the abandonment of treatment, which makes it difficult to implement the different interventions. The importance of the perspective of the patient is raised in order to improve the treatment programs. The objective of this study is to rescue the experience of women between 24 and 65 years of age, diagnosed with depression, belonging to the San Alberto Hurtado Family Health Center, Puente Alto, who abandoned treatment. Through a phenomenological study with in-depth interviews, four comprehensive categories were revealed: depression experience, desire for improvement, abandonment-related circumstances, and actions to improve. Among the findings of the study, it should be noted that the representation that patients have of depression is different from the biomedical representation and that the treatment is secondary to other responsibilities (“it is a luxury)