Knowledge and perception about depression in the Spanish population

Introduction. The aim of this study is to investigate the Spanish people's perception of depression. Identification of the existing mistakes in depression perception will be the first step to correct them and to contribute to the patients' well being. Material and methods. More than 1,000 structured surveys were conducted all around Spain with segmented representation for each regional community. Results. Two out of three interviewed people considered depression to be a disease, in a somewhat higher degree those who had suffered from depression (67%). Forty two percent of people thought depression affects more than 25% of the population. Spanish people think that the incidence of depression will increase in the future. Their opinion of the importance of depression is high, considering it among the three most prevalent diseases, even exceeding that of coronary diseases. Most people interviewed would not accept a pharmacological treatment of at least one year of duration. The most mentioned adverse effect of antidepressants is dependency, and it is the reason why interviewed people are reluctant to maintain long term treatment. Only 50% of people treated for depression thought they had had enough family and social support. Eighteen percent of depressed people hide their diagnosis, basically for fear of stigma at work. Conclusions. Nowadays, the Spanish population has a good knowledge of depression. However there are still some prejudices that make more difficult both the treatment and the recovery of depressed people and their social readjustment. These beliefs make up small stigmas that hinder treatment adherence, which is doubtlessly the most important factor to improve the outcome of depression.