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Doctor, what can you tell me about depression?
Depression is a type of mood disorder characterized by severe, persistent depressed mood or decreased interest or pleasure in almost all activities. Symptoms include insomnia or hypersomnia, weight loss or gain, fatigue, feeling of worthlessness, decreased ability to think and recurrent thoughts of suicide. Depression is a real illness and can be deadly if not properly treated. It is a mental health problem that can affect anyone regardless of age, gender, race or status, with a higher rate found among women, older adults, low-income individuals with other health problems, and individuals who have experienced trauma in their lives.
Depression is a devastating mental illness that carries a huge economic and social impact because it affects not only the individual who suffers from the illness, but also includes the extended family and community in which that person belongs or lives.
Since depression is not an isolated case, other existing factors may cause its effects to escalate. Both direct and indirect factors correlate with each other to make it one of the most expensive illnesses in the country, with an annual cost of $80 billion in the United States. Those factors include prevalence of illness, prescribed treatments, treatment effectiveness, other health problems, adherence and population characteristics. Depression can severely affect childhood development, academic achievements, marriages, parenthood and can be a major source of an individual’s emotional pain and suffering. It can also lead to suicide.
Major depression usually leads to increased absenteeism, lost work days and a less productive work force, placing an increased economic burden on employers, federal and state government programs, including Medicare and Medicaid, and criminal justice and state mental health agencies due to the costs of this mental disorder.
These costs can be further escalated as a result of undetected depression, inadequate treatment, other health problems and substance abuse disorders, as well as an aging population.
Depression will continue to impose unnecessary and severe economic and social costs on the American society if not properly diagnosed and properly treated.
Despite the high prevalence and tremendous impact of depression on individuals and society as a whole, it often remains undiagnosed and/or untreated. Although the rate of anti-depressant consumers is rising, fewer than 22 percent of individuals diagnosed with depression receive adequate treatment for their illness.
Treatment modalities include antidepressant and psychosocial treatments. Recent studies provide evidence that psychotherapy, combined with antidepressants, is associated with a significantly higher improvement rate than medication alone. Depression is a chronic illness and early screening and detection, combined with adequate treatment, can prevent relapse. Regular exercise, support from family and friends, healthy eating and sleeping habits, and religious, cultural, or ethnic group meetings help early recovery and/or prevention.
Trying to reduce stresses in your life, exercising regularly, socializing with family and friends and having a positive attitude will help you have a good quality of life without getting depressed. Best wishes for a happy and healthy New Year.
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| Contact Information |
Dr. Said Jacob is a licensed psychiatrist. His private practices are located at 415 West Route 66, Suite 202, Glendora, CA 91741 and 1370 Valley Vista Drive, Suite 104, Diamond Bar, CA 91765.
For more information about Dr. Jacob or other fine physicians who have medical staff privileges at Foothill Presbyterian Hospital, call The Doctor Connection at 888/456-CVHP or visit The Doctor Connection on the web.
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