Three out of 10 Portuguese have already been diagnosed with depression

Three out of 10 Portuguese people have already been diagnosed with depression, and six have already experienced signs of the disease at some point in their lives, according to a study published this Wednesday. Numbers that psychiatrist Gustavo Jesús considers “staggering”.

The data is part of a survey conducted to understand the Portuguese perspective on depression promoted by Lundbeck Portugal, a pharmaceutical company specializing in neurological and mental illness, and shows that 33.6% of respondents answered that they had already been diagnosed with the disease. medical worker. .

According to a study accessed by the Lusa agency, 62.1% of Portuguese felt they had depression at some point in their lives, and 77.3% had or had a close friend or relative who had been diagnosed with the condition.

“It should be expected that a large number of people will be diagnosed with depression because Portugal is one of the countries in the world with the highest rates” of this mental illness, warned Gustavo Jesús, noting that the covid-19 pandemic has caused this prevalence to rise in recent years.

According to the specialist, the National Health Service (NHS), which is “going through a period of great difficulties”, is not able to provide the necessary assistance due to the high prevalence of depression in Portugal, namely in the field of primary health care.

“Family doctors can [a fazer o diagnóstico], but the problem is that there are no family doctors. There are many Portuguese who do not have a family doctor, and those who do find it difficult to access them,” the psychiatrist said.

Gustavo Jesús also stressed that when patients have to be referred from primary care to inpatient psychiatry, they face waiting times for the first consultation in hospitals “consistently increasing”.

The survey also shows that “Portuguese people don’t seem to have much doubt that depression is an illness”, but 28.5% still consider it a state of mind.

More than 70% of respondents believe that the disease is underestimated by society, and 29% consider it chronic, that is, “remaining for life.”

Sadness (91.3%) and loss of self-esteem (89.6%) are the two symptoms most respondents associate with depression, followed by lack of pleasure and interest (85.3%), anxiety (82.3%), and physical fatigue or decreased energy (81.9%). %).

According to Gustavo Jesús, in most cases, depression is an acute illness that needs to be treated at the time of diagnosis and which in most situations has not developed into a chronic situation.

“This is a very common disease. Although depression is not always a chronic disease, it is currently the cause of the most sick days in the world, ”the psychiatrist emphasized.

The Portuguese Perspective on the Depression poll included a total of 1,215 respondents who were called between September 27 and October 3, 2022.