Masked Depression: Cultural Aspects
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5915/23-4-15444Keywords:
Major depression, masked depression, socio-cultural factorsAbstract
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5915/23-4-15444
Depression is not only the commonest illness seen in the practice of psychiatry, but it is also one of the commonest illnesses seen in the general practice of medicine. Unfortunately, the diagnosis is often missed because of a lack of appreciation of the various symptoms of depression by both the general public and professionals. This is particularly unfortunate since depression is essentially a treatable illness today.
One of the common causes of missed diagnosis is that in a certain number of patients depression is present in an unusual or atypical fashion. This has been referred to as "masked depression" or "depressive equivalent".
Some causes of this unusual presentation and how not to miss them are discussed. An informal clinical study, which points to certain social-cultural factors that may be important in such presentations, is reported. The patients from a cultural and linguistic minority group living in a larger and dominant culture may be more vulnerable to the "masking" of depression and thus cause misdiagnosis and mistreatment.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
