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Depression & Mental Health FAQs
US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated 40 million
Americans living today will suffer from major depressive illness during their lives.

Seasonal affective disorder is major depression that appears in the fall or winter and goes away in spring, thought to be caused by lack of sunlight.



Postpartum depression occurs within four weeks of a women giving childbirth. Most new mothers suffer from some form of the �baby blues.� Postpartum depression, by contrast, is major depression, thought to be triggered by changes in hormonal flows associated with childbirth.

Catatonic depression is a rare form of major depression characterized by (at least two): Stupor, excessive motor activity, extreme negativism, peculiarities in voluntary movement, and repetition of other people's words or actions. - mcmanweb.com



Psychotic depression is a rare form of depression characterized by delusions or hallucinations, such as believing you are someone you are not and hearing voices.


According to the National Institute of Mental Health, approximately 18.8 million American adults, or about 9.5 percent of the US population age 18 and older in a given year, have a depressive disorder.
Depression is a chronic illness that exacts a significant toll on America's health and productivity.  It affects more than 21 million American children and adults annually and is the leading cause of disability in the United States for individuals ages 15 to 44.


Lost productive time among U.S. workers due to depression is estimated to be in excess of $31 billion per year.  Depression frequently co-occurs with a variety of medical illnesses such as heart disease, cancer, and chronic pain and is associated with poorer health status and prognosis.  It is also the principal cause of the 30,000 suicides in the U.S. each year.  In 2004, suicide was the 11th leading cause of death in the United States, third among individuals 15-24.


According to the World Health Organization, depression is presently on track to becoming the world's second-most disabling disease (after heart disease) by the year 2020.

Depression is responsible for some $87 billion a year in lost productivity in the US (a conservative estimate), and according to Bank One, is responsible for most lost work days in its employees after pregnancy and childbirth.

Additionally, one million people worldwide die by their own hand, most as a result of a mood disorder. Finally, the linkage between depression and a host of physical illnesses makes it arguably the world's greatest killer.

Research presented at the 56th Annual Conference of the Canadian Psychiatric Association shows a marked link between bipolar disorder and migraines.

The odds of migraine in persons with bipolar disorder were 40% higher than the general population.

Data obtained from 36,984 people aged 15 and over, who screened positive for manic or depressive episodes with migraine, were compared against those who screened positive for mania but who didn�t suffer from migraines.

Amongst males, 14.9% of those with manic episodes were also diagnosed with migraines compared with 5.8% of the general population. Amongst females, 34.7% had both migraines and bipolar disorder compared with 14.7% who only had migraines.unquote.gif

While the research was skewed towards persons who were already diagnosed with bipolar disorders, what does it mean for people who suffer from migraines but who may have an undiagnosed bipolar disorder?



Migraines and headaches aren�t fully understood but the manifestations are very real and debilitating for their sufferers:

Throbbing pain
Nausea
Heightened sensitivity to light or sound
Seeing dots, wavy lines, flashing lights, or blind spots
Difficulty with speech, sensation, or movement

 


An estimated 2.1 million American adolescents have experienced major depression within the last year, according to a new comprehensive government study.  Researchers surveyed more than 67,000 young people ages 12 to 17 and found that one in 12 had suffered from serious depression in the previous year.Nearly 13 percent of girls had struggled with depression, compared to less than 5 percent of boys. Odds of depression increased with age -- just 4 percent of 12-year-olds experienced depression but that climbed to 11 percent for older teens.

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Continued access to mental-health meds is critical for patients

By Lindsay
naplesnews.com
Guest commentary: Continued access to mental-health meds is critical for patients

PETRA JONES, Special to the Daily News

Saturday, September 1, 2007

Untreated mental illness is a far more serious problem than most people realize. The signs of untreated serious mental illnesses are very visible in our communities. All you have to do is visit a county jail or prison, sit in a courtroom for one day, walk through a downtown park or volunteer at a homeless shelter.

Florida’s failure to adequately fund mental-health treatment is a national embarrassment. Of our 50 states, Florida falls second to last in per-capita mental-health spending. Sadly, that abysmal ranking could slide another notch (or two) if deeper cuts still are made to community mental-heath centers and services.

The one bright spot in Florida’s mental-health landscape has been the leadership of the Agency for Health Care Administration’s Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee (P&T) which has afforded Medicaid recipients with severe mental illnesses unrestricted access to medications. They’ve kept open access despite unrelenting pressure to cut the costs of Medicaid spending on mental-health medications. In some states, health-care administrators pick and choose which mental-health medications are put on preferred drugs lists based primarily on costs. Florida established such a list in 2001, but thus far, all drugs used to treat bipolar disorder and schizophrenia have remained on the list.

This sound public policy translates into recovery for many people who had lost hope, because it gives physicians the flexibility and freedom necessary to effectively treat people with mental illnesses that are notoriously difficult to manage. But now that could even change.

On Sept. 12, the P&T Committee will recommend what the state’s future policy should be regarding open access to mental-health medications.

Newer generation atypical antipsychotic drugs have revolutionized the treatment of serious mental illnesses. But as the name suggests, atypical antipsychotic medications are not therapeutically interchangeable. They vary in molecular structure; dosing strengths and formulations; side effects; efficacy and safety. They are the new front lines in the battle against chronic mental illnesses, and without them, many patients will not recover.

While mental illness is treatable, it’s very complex: People with the same diagnosis often respond very differently to the same medication. Onset and severity of symptoms, age, gender and even race must be factored into treatment decisions. And what works can change over time, requiring an adjustment or switch to another medication.

Allowing open access to all mental-health medications helps prevent the very high costs associated with destabilization and “decompensation.” To “decompensate” is a word that has become part of our lexicon, but most people don’t understand what the word really means and how serious it is. A person with serious mental illness who decompensates falls apart mentally and emotionally, signaling the onset of psychosis.

Decompensation is not a temporary setback for a person with a serious mental illness; each downward spiral results in an irrecoverable loss of functioning and stability. People with serious mental illnesses who are not stabilized on the appropriate medication often require services in crisis centers and hospital emergency rooms and may well become an expensive burden for law enforcement, the courts and jails.

When the state talks about cutting services to community mental-health centers and Medicaid spending to realize savings, they are only shifting the costs, and then some. These costs will be borne many times over elsewhere for high-cost crisis care. Continued underfunding places barriers to treatment, leaving the care for some of our state’s most vulnerable citizens in the hands of those who admittedly are the least equipped to deal with them: police officers and prison guards.

Florida’s policy of open access is good medicine and good economics. Full access to medication is the least expensive and by far the most humane treatment option for people with serious mental illnesses. All available treatments should remain on the table.

- - -

Petra Jones, of Naples, is the executive director of the Mental Health Association of Southwest Florida.

© 2007 Naples Daily News and NDN Productions. Published in Naples, Florida, USA by the E.W. Scripps Co.

Comments

Depression Forums would like to hear from you!
Mental illness affects one in seventeen Americans. However, in this country alone, funding for mental health
facilities is dropping drastically and the care for the mentally disabled.
When the people who need those facilities have no where to go, they end up overcrowding emergency rooms.
Depression Forums would like to hear from you!
We would like to invite you to PM Forum Admin to share your story about your Depression or Mental Health issues as breaking the silence will help us to break open the stigma surrounding mental health that keeps people from getting the care that continues misunderstandings about those affected by mental health disorders.
There is nothing better than to speak out, tell your story get the word out!
Together, we can help ourselves and others. Your stories would appear right here on DF's Portal.
Please PM Forum Admin for more information or to submit your story.
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Family Therapy With Medication Improves Depression In Bipolar Teens
In combination with medication, family-focused therapy appears to help curb depression symptoms in teens with bipolar disorder, according to a report released on September 1, 2008 in the Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.  Bipolar disorders are characterized by occasional periods of elevated mood, known as mania.




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Chewing Gum May Help Reduce Stress According To New Research
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Family Therapy With Medication Improves Depression In Bipolar Teens
In combination with medication, family-focused therapy appears to help curb depression symptoms in teens with bipolar disorder, according to a report released on September 1, 2008 in the Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.  Bipolar disorders are characterized by occasional periods of elevated mood, known as mania.

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Adolescents From Certain Races Participating In Religion May Become More Depressed
One of the few studies to look at the effects of religious participation on the mental health of minorities suggests that for some of them, religion may actually be contributing to adolescent depression. Previous research has shown that teens who are active in religious services are depressed less often because it provides these adolescents with social support and a sense of belonging.




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Adolescents From Certain Races Participating In Religion May Become More Depressed
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Depression & Mental Health FAQs 2
What is Clinical Depression?

Clinical depression can affect your body, mood, thoughts, and behavior. It can change your eating habits, how you feel and think about things, your ability to work and study, and how you interact with people.

Clinical depression is not a passing mood, a sign of personal weakness or a condition that can be willed away. Clinically depressed people cannot "pull themselves together" and get better.

Depression can be successfully treated by a mental health professional or certain health care providers. With the right treatment, 80 percent of those who seek help get better. And many people begin to feel better in just a few weeks.

Depression a Big Factor in Poor Health
World Health Organization Finds Depression Often Goes Untreated
By Salynn Boyles
WebMD Medical News
Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD

Sept. 6, 2007 -- Depression has a greater impact on overall health than arthritis, diabetes, angina, and asthma, but it all too often goes unrecognized and untreated, a report from the World Health Organization (WHO) suggests.
more...Depression a Big Factor in Poor Health

For Additional Information About Depression Write To:
The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
6001 Executive Boulevard, Room 8184, MSC 9663
Bethesda, MD 20892-9663
 

For free brochures on depression and its treatment call:  1-800-421-4211.
or visit: http://www.nimh.nih.gov
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