1 in 5 suffer Mental Illness

http://www.everydayhealth.com/depression/0119/1-in-5-adults-suffers-mental-ills.aspx?xid=tw_depression_20120117_emo

1 in 5 U.S. Adults Suffers Mental Ills

But, lack of insurance blocks many from treatment, experts say.

THURSDAY, Jan. 19, 2012 (HealthDay News) —Nearly 46 million American adults have had a mental illness in the past year, a new government report shows.
Almost 30 percent of those aged 18 to 25 experienced a mental illness, twice as many as those aged 50 and older at just over 14 percent. And more women than men suffered a mental illness in the last year (23 percent vs. nearly 17 percent), according to the report released Thursday from the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
"We all know people who have had a depression or an anxiety disorder, maybe something more serious like a bipolar disorder, but this is a pretty big number," said Peter Delany, director of SAMHSA's Office of Applied Studies.
"This is only the second year where we have done this as a separate report and the findings were not significantly different from last year," Delany noted, so there are not enough data to see a trend.
The reasons why so many people are suffering from these problems cannot be easily summed up, he said.
The recent economic downturn may be a factor for some, he said. "But these conditions are multifactorial — there are genetic issues, there are biological issues, there are social issues and also personal issuers," Delany explained.
A lot of people who are not receiving treatment for their mental illness, he said, cite lack of insurance as the main reason why.
"There are people who know they have a mental health problem, but aren't interested in getting care," he added.
"We know with the appropriate use of medication and with good treatment people can recover and go on to lead very healthy and productive lives," Delany said.
The new report defines mental illness as having a mental, behavioral or emotional problem based on criteria in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, which is the standard reference for mental illness. The report excluded developmental and substance use disorders.
According to the report, some 11.4 million adults suffered from serious mental illness in the past year, which is defined as an illness that affected a person's ability to function normally.
Mental illness doesn't just affect people, but also takes an economic toll — about $300 billion in 2002, the researchers said.
Mental illness also accounts for more disability in developed countries than any other illness, including cancer and heart disease, according to the World Health Organization.
Highlights of the report include:

• About 39 percent of those with a mental illness received mental health services.
• Nearly 61 percent of those with severe mental illness received services.
• 8.7 million Americans had suicidal thoughts in the last year.
• 2.5 million made plans to kill themselves.
• 1.1 million attempted suicide.
• People who abuse drugs or alcohol had higher rates of mental illness than others (20 percent vs. about 6 percent).
• One-fourth of those with serious mental illness were substance abusers.
• 1.9 million 12- to 17-year-olds had a major depression in the past year.
• Teens suffering depression were twice as likely to have a drug problem than teens who did not have a major depression (roughly 37 percent vs. 18 percent).

Dr. Ihsan Salloum, director of the Addiction Psychiatry and Psychiatric Comorbidity Programs at the University of Miami School of Medicine, said not only is the number of people with mental problems staggering, but so is the unmet need for care.
"There is a gap between the need and how many people reach treatment," he said. "Mental illness is a treatable problem, and the outcome is as good as any chronic medical problem."
Given the number of people with drug and alcohol problems who also have mental problems, those with a substance abuse problem should also be screened for a mental problem, Salloum said.
"If someone has a severe mental disorder and an addiction, it is imperative to take care of both problems, because the two problems feed on each other causing a bad outcome," he said.
And with the number of young people with these problems, the focus should be on prevention, Salloum added.

Depression in Girls 12-15 Triples

Found this article http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/25/depression-girls_n_1701953.html?utm_hp_ref=twhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/25/depression-girls_n_1701953.html?utm_hp_ref=tw

Depression In Girls Triples Between Ages 12 And 15Depression In Girls Triples Between Ages 12 And 15

New government data shines a light on just how many pre-teen and teenage girls may grapple with depression, finding that adolescent girls suffer from depression at a rate nearly three times that of boys their age.

And between the ages of 12 and 15, the percentage of girls experiencing depression triples, according to new figures released by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

"The take-home here is that we need to look for depression in girls starting earlier," said Tami Benton, executive director of the department of child and adolescent psychiatry and behavioral science at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, who reviewed the new data brief.

"Parents need to listen to their kids when they talk about things like bullying. We need to listen when our kids tell us they're feeling down or sad, or if we see a decline in school functioning, appetite and social functioning," she added.

The new data came from the 2008 to 2010 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, which rely on questionnaires and face-to-face surveys. Between the ages of 12 and 15, the percentage of girls who reported experiencing a major depressive episode in the past year jumped from 5 to 15 percent respectively.

A depressive episode was defined as a period of two weeks or longer during which teens experienced a depressed mood or a loss of interest or pleasure, along with other changes in day-to-day functioning, like a loss of sleep or appetite or changes in concentration.

The figures also suggest that an average of 1.4 million girls between ages 12 and 17 experienced one of those episodes within the last year -- a rate that is nearly three times that of their male peers.

Experts do not yet have a complete understanding of why there are such marked differences in rates of depression among boys and girls.

Before puberty, boys and girls typically experience depression at the same frequency. But when puberty begins, girls may experience specific biological and hormonal changes that raise their risk for depression.

"The other thing that happens is that there are many psychosocial factors," Benton explained. "There's greater demand for peer interaction. There's peer pressure."

Though she acknowledged that those stressors also affect boys, Benton said that social pressures can be much higher on girls. The physical and hormonal changes taking place at the same time those pressures kick in could make females more vulnerable.

Increased psychosocial pressures might also help explain why there is a marked jump in depression rates among girls between the ages of 12 and 15, Benton said. Another possibility, she said, is that parents and doctors are not paying close attention to girls' depressive symptoms until they are a little bit older, say 15 or 16.

"That's important," she said, cautioning that the new figures are preliminary and need to be confirmed. "If in fact this data is true, then it means that we need to be targeting our interventions much earlier, and starting to work with [our girls] much earlier."

In a statement, SAMSHA Administrator Pamela Hyde said it was "crucial" that teenage girls be given assistance with coping skills and social support systems to help avoid the onset of depression. Hyde called any efforts to provide this support a "sound investment in girls' health and well-being and in our nation's future."

Treatment options for depression in adolescents are similar to those for adults, including cognitive behavioral therapy and other forms of psychotherapy. In some cases, antidepressants are also prescribed: According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 4.6 percent of girls ages 12 to 17 take antidepressants, as well as 2.8 percent of boys in that age group.

New government data shines a light on just how many pre-teen and teenage girls may grapple with depression, finding that adolescent girls suffer from depression at a rate nearly three times that of boys their age.

And between the ages of 12 and 15, the percentage of girls experiencing depression triples, according to new figures released by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

"The take-home here is that we need to look for depression in girls starting earlier," said Tami Benton, executive director of the department of child and adolescent psychiatry and behavioral science at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, who reviewed the new data brief.

"Parents need to listen to their kids when they talk about things like bullying. We need to listen when our kids tell us they're feeling down or sad, or if we see a decline in school functioning, appetite and social functioning," she added.

The new data came from the 2008 to 2010 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, which rely on questionnaires and face-to-face surveys. Between the ages of 12 and 15, the percentage of girls who reported experiencing a major depressive episode in the past year jumped from 5 to 15 percent respectively.

A depressive episode was defined as a period of two weeks or longer during which teens experienced a depressed mood or a loss of interest or pleasure, along with other changes in day-to-day functioning, like a loss of sleep or appetite or changes in concentration.

The figures also suggest that an average of 1.4 million girls between ages 12 and 17 experienced one of those episodes within the last year -- a rate that is nearly three times that of their male peers.

Experts do not yet have a complete understanding of why there are such marked differences in rates of depression among boys and girls.

Before puberty, boys and girls typically experience depression at the same frequency. But when puberty begins, girls may experience specific biological and hormonal changes that raise their risk for depression.

"The other thing that happens is that there are many psychosocial factors," Benton explained. "There's greater demand for peer interaction. There's peer pressure."

Though she acknowledged that those stressors also affect boys, Benton said that social pressures can be much higher on girls. The physical and hormonal changes taking place at the same time those pressures kick in could make females more vulnerable.

Increased psychosocial pressures might also help explain why there is a marked jump in depression rates among girls between the ages of 12 and 15, Benton said. Another possibility, she said, is that parents and doctors are not paying close attention to girls' depressive symptoms until they are a little bit older, say 15 or 16.

"That's important," she said, cautioning that the new figures are preliminary and need to be confirmed. "If in fact this data is true, then it means that we need to be targeting our interventions much earlier, and starting to work with [our girls] much earlier."

In a statement, SAMSHA Administrator Pamela Hyde said it was "crucial" that teenage girls be given assistance with coping skills and social support systems to help avoid the onset of depression. Hyde called any efforts to provide this support a "sound investment in girls' health and well-being and in our nation's future."

Treatment options for depression in adolescents are similar to those for adults, including cognitive behavioral therapy and other forms of psychotherapy. In some cases, antidepressants are also prescribed: According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 4.6 percent of girls ages 12 to 17 take antidepressants, as well as 2.8 percent of boys in that age group.