The effects of physical symptoms on problem solving skills in depressed patients

Objective: Major depressive disorder (MDD) is one of the most common psychiatric disorders. At the same time, disability is an important public health problem due to its individual and social costs. Patients with depression can commonly somatize their symptoms. Somatization complicates the recognition of major depressive disorder. In the literature, the relationship between depression and problem solving skills was investigated in most of the studies, and it was determined that problem solving skills were more inadequate in people with high depression levels, regardless of the problem and stress level. In our study; It is aimed to contribute to the literature on the subject by examining the relationship between the somatic symptoms in depression patients and the problem-solving skills of the patients. Method: In this study, 200 consecutive patients who were diagnosed with major depression according to DSM-5 diagnostic criteria, who applied to the psychiatry outpatient clinic of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University Rize Training and Research Hospital between 01.01.2021 and 01.01.2022 with depressive complaints and did not receive any psychiatric treatment for the last 6 months. Has been included. Sociodemographic data collection for patients diagnosed with MDD according to DSM 5, for patients who applied to the Recep Tayip Erdogan University Faculty of Medicine Education and Research Hospital Psychiatric Outpatient Clinic with depressive complaints, about the purpose and method of the study, and who agreed to participate in the study by filling out an informed consent form and meeting the inclusion criteria. Form, Clinician's Version of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-5 Disorders (SCID-5-CV), Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Problem Solving Inventory (PSI), Somatosensory Amplification Scale (SSAS) were applied. . The obtained data were evaluated by transferring them to the SPSS for Windows 26.0 database program. Findings: The majority of patients with MDD who participated in the study were women. The mean age of the patients participating in the study was 38.61±12.68 years. There were somatic symptoms in 55.5% of the patients who participated in the study. The mean age of the group with physical symptoms was higher. The frequency of somatic symptoms was higher in women with depression. The somatization levels of the female gender were found to be higher. It was determined that as the severity of depression increased, problem solving skills decreased. Problem solving skills were found to be lower in depression patients with somatic symptoms. Results: The relationship between depression and problem solving skills has been demonstrated by studies in the literature. It is stated that depression negatively affects problem-solving skills, and that having inadequate problem-solving skills is a risk factor for depression. Adding somatic symptoms to depression negatively affects problem solving skills. By applying problem-solving skill-based therapies to depression patients, the severity of somatic symptoms can be reduced. Keywords: major depressive disorder, somatic symptoms, problem solving skills