Motivações dos enfermeiros para o uso de psicofármacos

Abstract

In recent years, there has been a significant increase in the use of psychotropics. This increase is driven by a variety of factors, including changes in diagnostic patterns, increased awareness of mental health problems, increased access to psychiatric and psychological treatments, as well as social and economic pressure. This study aims at the population of nurses, as they face high levels of occupational stress due to the demanding nature of their work, which can lead to the development of mental health problems, such as anxiety and depression, and thus, to deal with these symptoms, some nurses resort to self-medication with psychotropics, including antidepressants, anxiolytics and antipsychotics. The main objective of this work is to understand the motivations that lead Portuguese nurses to consume psychotropics. It is also intended to understand what psychotropics are, as well as which are the most used. As nurses are exposed to situations of overload, and other factors that trigger their use in their day, which lead to anxiety, depression and stress at work, we also intend to analyze these three previously mentioned factors in this population, as well as take into account the age and gender of the participants. The Beck Anxiety Inventory, the Beck Depression Inventory, as well as the Nursing Stress Scale (NSS) and the Questionnaire on Reasons for Using Psychotropics will be used as instruments.

Date of Award	25 Feb 2026
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Paulo César Dias (Supervisor)