[Antidepressant management strategy from the patient perspective: struggling internally and externally].
OBJECTIVE
To identify the consumption pathway and strategies of coping with antidepressants use from the patients perspective.


METHODS
Qualitative research.


METHODS
Tenerife.


METHODS
Theoretical sampling until saturation.


METHODS
A total of 17 open interviews with patients who consumed antidepressants whether combined with tranquilisers or not. The age range was between 35-85 years, and there were 13 women. Ten lived in a more urban setting and the rest in rural areas. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed using a modified Grounded Theory supported by the software program ATLAS.ti.


RESULTS
The process identified as coping with antidepressants, was called "struggling internally and externally." It consisted of the individual assessment of the benefits and risks of medication use (internal struggle), addressing stigma and social pressure (external struggle). The outcome of the assessment made by patients may lead to different strategies for adjusting to drug treatment: "unconditional acceptance", "resigned acceptance" or "forced acceptance".


CONCLUSIONS
Understanding the evaluation process that the patient needs to go through, given the internal and external struggle in which they are immersed, can be useful to develop interventions that improve medication use. In fact, physicians have an important role, although not always explicitly sought in resolving the dilemma posed by patients using antidepressant drugs and, therefore, reducing the length of patient suffering.
Unidad de Investigación, Hospital Universitario Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria y Gerencia de Atención Primaria, Tenerife, Spain. vinitavivek@hotmail.com
Vinita
V
Mahtani-Chugani
Emilio
E
Sanz-Alvarez
Carlos
C
de Las Cuevas-Castresana
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000928:Antidepressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001294:Attitude to Health; D003863:Depression / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
D000928:Antidepressive Agents