«Pa’ qué sirvo yo, mejor me muero»: Hacia la construcción de la percepción de sintomatología depresiva en una comunidad indígena

SUMMARYIntroductionMental health can have different meanings in indigenous communities,which is why understanding mental problems requires studying thecontext. Knowledge of mental health in these communities sheds lighton the population’s perception of how they live and experience thestressful events that cause depressive symptomatology. The aim ofthis article is to analyze the link between the symptoms expressed inan indigenous population and the symptoms evaluated using theDepression Scale of the Center for Epidemiological Studies (CES-D)and its link with socio-demographic variables.MethodThe sample comprises indigenous women from the Mezquital Valleywho attended medical consultations and were referred forpsychological treatment since they were considered to be sufferingfrom emotional malaise due to their inability to cope with living witha relative who was a heavy drinker. A mixed method that exploresmeanings was used to analyze the information. This method involvesthe analysis of quantitative and qualitative data that complement eachother in order to understand the cultural context and influences.The quantitative analysis consisted of obtaining the score fordepressive symptomatology and its link with socio-demographic variablessuch as academic achievement, age, occupation and marital status.Presence (experiencing the symptom in the week prior to theinterview, regardless of the number of days) and persistence(experiencing the symptom from five to seven days) were analyzed.Results and discussionSixty-two per cent obtained high scores for depressive symptomatology.The qualitative data indicate that the women expressed feelings thatcorrespond to items in the CES-D.Working and being young constitute a protective factor thatprovides women with a social life and a degree of independence. Theeffectiveness of the CES-D as a screening instrument means that itcan be applied in primary health care to alert professionals and ensuretimely referral.ConclusionThe CES-D scale is suitable for measuring depressive symptomatologyin Mexico’s indigenous population. However, these findings must betreated with caution because of the population’s meanings andrepresentations of health and illness.Key words: Indigenous people, depressive symptomatology, mixedanalysis.RESUMENIntroduccionEn las comunidades indigenas la salud mental puede tener significa-dos diferentes por lo que la comprension de los problemas mentalesrequiere del estudio del contexto. Su conocimiento favoreceria enten-der desde la perspectiva de la poblacion como viven y experimentanlos eventos estresantes que les ocasiona sintomatologia depresiva. Elobjetivo de este articulo es analizar la relacion entre los sintomasexpresados en una poblacion indigena, los sintomas evaluados conla Escala de Depresion del Centro de Estudios Epidemiologicos (CES-D)y su relacion con variables socio-demograficas.MetodoEl Instituto Nacional de Psiquiatria Ramon de la Fuente Muniz, ha veni-do trabajando por mas de diez anos en los problemas relacionadoscon el consumo de alcohol en la comunidad indigena otomi del Estadode Hidalgo. Este trabajo es uno de los realizados en este campo. Eneste caso la muestra se integra por mujeres indigenas del Valle delMezquital que asistieron a la consulta medica, y que fueron canaliza-das a la atencion psicologica por considerar que tenian malestares emo-cionales por no saber como enfrentar la situacion de convivir con unfamiliar consumidor excesivo de alcohol. Para el analisis de la informa-cion se utilizo el metodo mixto, consistente en el analisis de datos cuan-titativos y cualitativos que se complementan entre si para comprenderel contexto y explorar los significados y las influencias culturales.El analisis cuantitativo consistio en obtener el puntaje de lasintomatologia depresiva y su relacion con variables sociodemo-graficas de escolaridad, edad, ocupacion y estado civil.