Sociocultural factors of depression: a contribution to the mental health social policies
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.26512/rgs.v15i3.54975Keywords:
Depression, Mental health, Sociocultural factors, Socioeconomic FactorsAbstract
This research aims to contribute to the development of new social policies of mental health, related to depression, based on socio-cultural factors.
The research used a mixed methodology in data collection and a questionnaire was applied to 111 people of both sexes (73.9% of the female sex) with diagnosis of major depression, residents of the Lisbon region, Portugal, of which 20 also responded to a qualitative, face-to-face interview.
The main socio-cultural factors encountered were situations of stress and labour conflict (24.3%); emotional loss (19.8%); and situations of conflict or marital separation (18.0%).
Almost two thirds of the respondents (62.2%) believe that some conditions, in addition to clinical care, could help alleviate their suffering (resolution factors). These included: better human support (37.3%); better employment status (24.0%); greater financial support (18.7%).
Based on the findings, the authors propose the following types of social policies to prevent depression: labour policies; social cohesion policies; education and literacy policies; and training of professionals in the early detection of depression.
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