The Tampa Bay (FL) Times (7/10) reports in depth on depression as a common, yet often unexpected side effect of significant medical treatment or illness. According to the article, a 2011 report from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation said that 34 million US adults – 17 percent of all US adults – “had a mental health disorder such as anxiety or depression along with a chronic health condition such as diabetes, heart disease, back pain or asthma.” The Times notes that the National Cancer Institute estimates 25 percent of cancer patients experience depression, and the American Heart Association estimates 33 percent of all heart attack patients do the same.
Related Links:
— “Depression common after serious illness or medical treatments, and should be treated,” Irene Maher, Tampa Bay Times, July 9, 2015.