The Importance of the Consumers’ Perspective in Managing Depression
Prof. Marten deVries, Secretary General of WFMH, chaired a press briefingin Munich, Germany, on 9 September to introduce the results of a survey ofconsumers’ views of treatment and care for depression. The survey wasconducted in Germany, Ireland and the UK with the assistance of WFMH, AWARE(Ireland), Depression Alliance (UK), and interested physicians in Germany,under an unrestricted educational grant from the Pharmacia Corporation.
The purpose of the survey was to gain insight into consumer’s views of theeffectiveness of their medications and their level of satisfaction with them(respondents as a group reported using or having tried seventeen brands ofmedication). The questionnaire was developed with input from medicalprofessionals, researchers and consumers. Respondents numbered 1,071(representing 10 nationalities), of whom 98% had taken medication at sometime for depression. Three quarters of them were taking medication at thetime they participated in the survey.
Consumers rated the impact of medication on eleven specific symptoms.Depressed mood had the highest rate of improvement of all symptoms (75%) andone-third of consumers rated the change as “great improvement.”However the level of side effects that medication caused was high across allage ranges, with 75% of people experiencing them. The most common symptom,tiredness and/or loss of energy, was improved in a little over half of theconsumers but only 16% rated the change as “great improvement.” One thirdreported either “no improvement” or they reported that this common symptombecame “worse” on medication.
Just over one third of the respondents were “very satisfied” with theircurrent, or most recent, medication. About one in five was dissatisfiedwith the medicines taken recently. Most people (68%) showed a high interestin future medicines for depression if they did not cause drowsiness,sedation, headaches, tension or other similar side effects.
The presentations at the press briefing included a personal perspective ofdepression from a consumer, Stuart Perry, a report on European attitudes tothe treatment of depression from Anton Tiernan of Depression Alliance, and areport on American consumers’ attitudes from Donald G Jacob, President ofthe National Depressive and Manic Depressive Association.
“While many people have benefited from medication, there are too many whoare dissatisfied with their treatment – or cannot tolerate theirantidepressant due to side effects, ” said Marten deVries. He urged a farmore comprehensive approach to treatment, with more attention to improvingoverall quality of life. “Current studies show that anti-depressant therapyis less than optimal and multiple forms of treatment may be required overtime, including psychotherapy, self-help, a combination of antidepressants,or a complete change of medication if results do not improve,” he said.
Mental Health and Work
In the questionnaire distributed in the UK, extra questions relating mainlyto work were added at the request of the consumers’ group DepressionAlliance. While most of the UK respondents had told family (94%) or someof their friends (84%) about their depression, only 43% had told eithertheir employer or work colleagues. Nearly half (44%) had not done sobecause they were frightened of being labeled as over-emotional, weak orunstable. Some were scared of losing their job (25%) or that they would notbe considered for promotion and other opportunities (19%). Some (27%) didnot tell their employer that the real reason for taking time off work wasdepression.
The main work-related factors that people believed had contributed to theirdepression were excessive workload (40%), the working environment (32%),bullying and harassment (23%) and long working hours (21%). Employersproviding access to counseling services would be valued by 43% of consumersand education of employees about depression by 37%.