Health professional’s perception about antidepressants medication

The aim of the present study is to understand the health professional’s perception about the phenomenon of nonadherence the antidepressant medication when they are themselves patients. The participants were health professionals of a tertiary hospital in the city of São Paulo who were treated in the Ocupational Medicine Service and demonstrated nonadherence to antidepressant medication. A Qualitative clinical method was used and the collection of data was conducted through semi directed interviews. The results indicate that the participants perceived the medication as causing side effect, they expressed fear to a potential dependence to the psychoactive medication and were also afraid of being control over their mind. It s concluded that previous beliefs about their emotional problems and the use of antidepressant medication influenced the nonadherence the treatment, despite of their experience as health professionals.