A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY

Sundaram Lakshmi Sabapathi, Kannan Veenu, Natarajan Rajthilak, Balasubramaniyan Naveen

DOI :

DOI:10.59551/IJHMP/25832069/2024.5.2.40

ABSTRACT :

Background: Common mental illnesses (CMDs) are under-recognized and under-treated despite their higher frequency, which causes severe disability. The frequency of drug prescriptions varies geographically and is impacted by factors such as patient characteristics, disease prevalence, cultural and environmental factors, socioeconomic status, the accessibility of new medications, and physician prescribing practices. As a result, we want to examine how doctors treat various psychological conditions. Aim and Objectives: To estimate the commonly occurring psychiatric illnesses, estimate the prescription pattern of various psychiatric illnesses, and compare the sociodemographic characteristics and treatment of anxiety and depression. Materials and Methods: Our study was a cross-sectional observational study that was carried out for 6 months in a psychiatric outpatient department. A total of 2362 patient medical records were assessed for analysis. The data were analysed using SPSS. Result: In the present, males (53.68%) were more affected than females (46.31%). The majority of the patients (41.99%) were in the age group of 19–40; rural (68.54%) people were more affected than urban (31.46%), depression was the (24.34%) most commonly affecting psychiatric disorder, followed by anxiety (22.56%). Benzodiazepines (29.5%) were the most commonly prescribed psychotropic medication, followed by atypical antipsychotics (13.63%). Conclusion: In this study, we concluded that psychiatric disorders are more common in this era. To conduct an awareness program about psychiatric disorders and their symptoms among the people and counsel the patients and their families about their condition properly to reduce the morbidity of psychiatric disorders.

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