Introduction/Objective Depression is a disabling mental health disorder affecting over 300 million people worldwide. In Tunisia, population-level data on its prevalence and determinants remain limited. Our study aimed to estimate the prevalence of depression in the Tunisian population and identify associated socio-demographic and clinical factors. Methods Data were drawn from the mental health component of the Tunisian Health Examination Survey (2016), a nationally representative study conducted among 9,209 individuals aged ≥15 years. Self-reported, physician-diagnosed lifetime depression was the main outcome. Associations with socio-demographic characteristics and clinical conditions, including rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, and menopause, were examined. Results The study population comprised 4360 men (49.2%) and 4849 women (51.8%), with a mean age of 41.4±17.4 years. The prevalence of self-reported lifetime depression was 4.7%. Multivariate analysis identified female sex (OR=1.53, 95% CI [1.11–2.10]) and age groups 30–64 years (OR=1.81, 95% CI [1.20–2.73]) and ≥65 years (OR=1.82, 95% CI [1.06–3.14]) as factors significantly associated with higher prevalence. Conversely, marriage (OR=0.59, 95% CI [0.42–0.84]) and the absence of rheumatoid arthritis (OR=0.48, 95% CI [0.38–0.60]) were associated with a lower prevalence of the disorder. Discussion The findings indicate that self-reported depression in Tunisia is significantly influenced by gender and aging, consistent with global epidemiological trends. The strong association with physical comorbidities, particularly rheumatoid arthritis, underscores the necessity of integrated mental health screening for patients with chronic illnesses. Furthermore, the protective association of marriage suggests that social and family cohesion remain vital factors in the Tunisian sociocultural context. Conclusion Depression in Tunisia is shaped by gender, aging, and physical comorbidities. Targeted prevention and integrated screening strategies are needed, especially for vulnerable demographic and clinical groups.
Franco Basaglia's centenary, celebrated on March 11, 2024, invites reflection on the historical significance of his legacy. His work in defense of people with mental disorders represents his fight for the protection of human dignity and the value of life. Pejoratively called “the philosopher Basaglia,” he transformed psychiatric practices by pushing the boundaries of medicine to address profound human rights issues. Basaglia adopted an existential-analytical stance that underpinned his commitment to psychiatric reform and the management of mental health practice, inspiring changes in public policies around the world. This commemorative editorial presents a historical overview of Franco Basaglia's contributions to psychiatric reform and their implications for mental health care.
صدمین سالگرد تولد فرانکو بازالیا که در ۱۱ مارس ۲۰۲۴ گرامی داشته شد، فرصتی برای تأمل بر اهمیت تاریخی میراث او فراهم می‌کند. فعالیت‌های او در دفاع از افراد مبتلا به اختلالات روانی، نمایانگر تلاش وی برای حفاظت از کرامت انسانی و ارزش زندگی است. بازالیا که به طعنه «فیلسوف بازالیا» نامیده می‌شد، با گسترش مرزهای پزشکی و پرداختن به مسائل عمیق حقوق بشری، شیوه‌های روان‌پزشکی را متحول ساخت. او با اتخاذ رویکردی وجودی-تحلیلی، تعهد خود به اصلاحات روان‌پزشکی و مدیریت عمل سلامت روان را پایه‌گذاری کرد و الهام‌بخش تغییراتی در سیاست‌های عمومی در سراسر جهان شد. این سرمقاله‌ی یادبود، مروری تاریخی بر دستاوردهای فرانکو بازالیا در اصلاح روان‌پزشکی و پیامدهای آن برای مراقبت از سلامت روان ارائه می‌دهد.
Few events in recent history have forced clinicians and researchers to rethink mental health quite like COVID-19. In this commentary, we reflect on something that struck us while reading the work of Cantone et al. : the pandemic, for all its devastation, created a kind of unplanned observational window, a chance to study, at population scale, what happens when stress and rhythm disruption hit at the same time. Healthcare Workers (HCWs) were at the epicentre of this. They didn't just witness the crisis; they absorbed it, shift after shift, for months. What the data show is that their depressive symptoms and rhythm instability were not random; they appear systematically linked, and at levels one would more typically associate with mood disorder research. We discuss these findings through the lens of DYMERS (Dysregulation of Mood, Energy, and Social Rhythms Syndrome), a heuristic transdiagnostic construct that, in our view, captures something that standard categorical diagnoses tend to miss: the subthreshold, fluctuating psychopathology that sits just below the threshold of formal diagnosis but causes real impairment. The pandemic may not have created these vulnerabilities, but it may well have sharpened our ability to see them.
