People Who Have Depression May Not Be Getting Needed Treatment

The CBS News (8/29, Marcus) website reports that “too often,” people “who have depression aren’t actually getting the treatment they need,” researchers found after analyzing “data from 46,417 adults who responded to a survey in 2012 and 2013.”

The survey results revealed that “more than eight percent screened positive for depression, yet less than a third of that group (28.7 percent) received any kind of treatment.” American Psychiatric Association president Maria Oquendo, MD, pointed out that a shortage of mental health professionals may interfere with a depressed person’s ability to get treatment. “In many communities, there aren’t” any mental healthcare professionals. It can also be difficult for people with depression to get motivated enough to find a mental healthcare professional.

Dr. Oquendo said, “The onset of depression is so insidious and often times it’s not identified until it’s serious. Then a lack of motivation and apathy interfere.”

Related Links:

— “Many with depression have something else in common,” MARY BROPHY MARCUS, CBS News, August 29, 2016.

Posted in In The News.