Current Symptoms of Depression at the National Psychiatric Hospital of Thiaroye

Abstract

Depression is a complex disorder which requires a degree of subtle knowledge of its various clinical expressions in order to be able to provide treatment at an early stage. In light of changes in families and patients, the authors engaged in a psychiatric study of current symptoms of depression. A retrospective study was carried out at the National Psychiatric Hospital of Thiaroye in Senegal from January 1st to December 31st of 2011. It related to the clinical observation of outpatients who had been diagnosed with depression. We found that insomnia occurred most frequently (73.9%), followed by somatic complaints (34.3%). Hallucinations and cenesthopathies occurred in 14.0% and 12.6% of cases, which was much less frequent than what had been observed previously. Symptoms such as delirious ideas are no longer the most common aspect of depression. Suicidal thoughts were found to be more frequent than in prior studies, although the tendency to act on these thoughts was still less than before. Thus, societal changes have had an impact on the expression of depressive disorders, and mental health experts should take heed of this.