González-Forteza Catalina, Torre Alicia Edith Hermosillo de la, Vacio-Muro María de Los Ángeles, Peralta Robert, Wagner Fernando A
Dirección de Investigaciones Epidemiológicas y Psicosociales, Instituto Nacional de Psiquiatría Dr. Ramón de la Fuente, México D.F., México.
Departamento de Psicología, Universidad Autónoma de Aguascalientes, Aguascalientes, México.
Bol Med Hosp Infant Mex. 2015 Mar-Apr;72(2):149-155. doi: 10.1016/j.bmhimx.2015.05.006. Epub 2015 Jul 3.
Depression is an important public health problem that requires more and better attention. In the present work we review epidemiologic studies of depression among adolescents in Mexico and discuss strategies that may help in earlier identification and referral of potential cases for timely care. In summary, depressive symptoms are prevalent among adolescents and adults in Mexico as in many other countries, with a higher ratio of female cases. Young people experiencing the most challenging socio-urban situations have higher rates of depression. Even though depressive disorders are more prevalent among females, consequences may be even worse for males. The authors posit that, among males, stigma attached to depression might lead to attempts to hide depressive symptoms by masking them through high-risk behaviors (e.g., alcohol, drug use, and violence, among others). Women may have higher rates of suicide attempts, but the case-fatality rate of suicide attempts is higher among males. Despite of barriers and resource scarcity among healthcare and educational institutions, it is necessary to continue to develop alternatives that will lead to better attention of mental health issues among the youth, even when their mental health needs are not expressed directly or their chief complaints are in regard to "other" health issues.
抑郁症是一个重要的公共卫生问题，需要更多且更好的关注。在本研究中，我们回顾了墨西哥青少年抑郁症的流行病学研究，并讨论了有助于早期识别和转诊潜在病例以便及时治疗的策略。总之，与许多其他国家一样，抑郁症状在墨西哥的青少年和成年人中普遍存在，女性病例的比例更高。处于最具挑战性的社会城市环境中的年轻人抑郁症发病率更高。尽管抑郁症在女性中更为普遍，但对男性的影响可能更严重。作者认为，在男性中，与抑郁症相关的耻辱感可能导致他们试图通过高风险行为（如酗酒、吸毒和暴力等）来掩盖抑郁症状。女性的自杀未遂率可能更高，但男性自杀未遂的病死率更高。尽管医疗保健和教育机构存在障碍且资源匮乏，但仍有必要继续开发替代方案，以便更好地关注青少年的心理健康问题，即使他们没有直接表达心理健康需求或主要抱怨是关于“其他”健康问题。
