A Depression-Fighting Strategy That Could Go Viral
These studies were proof that depression could be treated in poor countries by lay people. Now these researchers are trying to figure out how to streamline these interventions to the minimum outlay of resources needed to maintain excellent results. Many models are being tried, which integrate mental health care into primary care, employ community health workers or piggyback therapy on to other kinds of services. But one very promising strategy is to rely on peers as therapists. “The idea is to really make it go viral,” said Vikram Patel, a psychiatrist at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the leader of the Goa study.
.. Before they started recruiting members, the facilitators went into their target communities to meet with local leaders and introduce the concept of depression. “People tell us someone is sad, has lost interest, and cannot concentrate,” said Christine Nanyondo, who supervises the facilitators (as a high school graduate, she ran groups in Verdeli’s 2002 study). “But they say it’s because of witchcraft, or laziness. In all the villages we’ve been in, we’ve met only two women who went somewhere for counseling for their depression. Others buy pills. They think maybe they have malaria.”