Public awareness, beliefs and attitude towards depressive disorders in Saudi Arabia

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the degree of public awareness, beliefs, and attitudes regarding major depression and available treatment options in the Saudi population. METHODS: A community-based cross-sectional study of 1,188 participants was carried out from March to April 2021 in Ha’il, Saudi Arabia using an online self-administered questionnaire. Using a snowball sampling technique, the authors targeted the Saudi population living in Ha’il region. RESULTS: Overall, 65.6% of the participants had good awareness regarding depression disorder in total. Of the participants, 72.9% had good awareness regarding general awareness, 85.4% regarding depression symptoms, 12.3% regarding risk factors, and 15.7% regarding treatments. Of the participants, 67.3% believed that depression was caused by lack of faith and 45.5% believed that depression was caused by “the evil eye” or black magic. Of the participants, 56% believed in faith healers as a legitimate treatment approach. Of the participants, 63.9% were willing to work with individuals with depression, 62.7% were willing to establish friendships with them, and 27.9% believed that individuals with depression had weak personalities. CONCLUSION: The general population exhibited good general awareness regarding depression and its symptoms, but knowledge of risk factors and treatments was poor. Our findings underscore the need for public educational programs to increase public awareness about the risk factors and treatment options for depression.