Mental Health Program, International Assistance Mission, Herat Office, Herat, Afghanistan
Research Article
Depression and Anxiety Cases in Herat, Afghanistan: Awareness, Accessibility to Mental Health Services and Treatment Gap
Author(s): Sayed Javid Sadat, Mohammad Rasuli, Ehsan Ahmad Ahmadzadeh, Alireza Hassanzadah, Hamidullah Faqireyan, Mina Alekozay, Abdul Fattah Najm and Aziz-ur-Rahman Niazi*
Background: The prevalence of mental disorders is increasing in the world, with anxiety and depression being the most common. In 2017, 3.3% and 4.0% of Afghan population lived with depression and anxiety, respectively. This study aims to identify the treatment gap and level of accessibility of people with depression and/or anxiety to mental health services in Herat province of Afghanistan.
Methods: This institutional-based case-series study was conducted from October 2021 to January 2022. Data on sociodemographic characteristics and the severity of depression and anxiety was collected from Herat Mental Health Registry using a 16-item structured questionnaire. Statistical analyses were performed in IBM SPSS Statistics (version 27).
Results: A total of 133 participants with a mean age of 36.7 ± 9.8 years inclu.. View more»