Patients' views of antidepressants: from first experiences to becoming expert
Open accessAbstract
BACKGROUND: The majority of patients discontinue antidepressant treatment earlier than prescribed. The factors behind this and the influences on patients' choices about whether to take medication remain poorly understood. AIM: To explore factors that influence patients' decisions about taking antidepressant medication. DESIGN OF STUDY: Qualitative interview study. SETTING: Interviews were conducted across three sites: London, East Lancashire, and North East England. METHOD: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of 65 primary care patients who were prescribed antidepressants in the past year for depression or mixed anxiety/depression. RESULTS: Participants described their first course of antidepressants as typically occurring when they had 'hit rock bottom', having exhausted all other possibilities; therefore, there was little sense of a positive choice at this stage. There would typically follow a period of experimentation where it was usual to stop and restart medication, often several times. Ultimately, these recurring cycles lead to participants becoming more expert about their condition and better able to make an informed decision about medication. For younger participants, recovery typically remained a goal, although for older people there was often an acceptance that their condition, and medication use, would be long term. CONCLUSION: Participants' accounts demonstrated how they could become expert at managing their condition through a process of trial and error.
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People are actively involved in making meaning of their medication use, and this has implications for the value it has in their lives.
“there is an important body of research recognising that people are actively involved in making meaning of their medication use and that this has implications this has for the value it has in their lives”
From ‘In my life antidepressants have been…’: a qualitative analysis of users’ diverse experiences with antidepressants (2016) · cites this paper as [10]
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- Authors
- Schofield, P., Crosland, A., Waheed, W., Aseem, S., Gask, L., Wallace, A., Dickens, A., & Tylee, A.
- Affiliations
- King's College London (GB)
- University of Sunderland (GB)
- Manchester Academic Health Science Centre (GB)
- University of London (GB)
- Kings Health Partners (GB)
- Venue
- British Journal of General Practice
- Published
- 2011-04-01
- Volume
- 61
- Issue
- 585
- Pages
- e142-e148
- ISSN
- 0960-1643 (ISSN-L)
- 1478-5242
- PMC
- PMC3063042
- OpenAlex
- W2016460740
- Cited by
- 67
- References
- 23
- Citations by year
- 2025: 4 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 25 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 3 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 6 · 2013: 2 · 2012: 2
- FWCI
- 3.24
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- British Journal of General Practice (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Research Portal (King's College London) (submittedVersion)
- Research Explorer (The University of Manchester) (submittedVersion)
- Sunderland Repository (University of Sunderland) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Servier
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Family Practice › Medication Adherence and Compliance
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Mental Health Treatment and Access
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pharmacology › Treatment of Major Depression
- Keywords
- antidepressants, patient decision-making, medication adherence, depression, mixed anxiety-depressive disorder, trial and error, patient expertise, primary care, drug discontinuation
- MeSH terms
- Antidepressive Agents, Attitude to Health, Depressive Disorder, Humans, Patient Acceptance of Health Care, Patient Compliance
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