Depression As Public Health Issue

Problem Statement: The World Health Association defines ‘good’ health as: “a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” However, in the United States, access to care and funding for mental health care are grossly neglected and underfunded in comparison to other aspects of health care.

“Recent data estimate the overall prevalence of depression at about 11.1% of the American population, or nearly 35 million individuals (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2011). A predictive models suggest that up to 50% of the population will experience at least one episode of depression during their lives” (Life Extension, 2014). Depression has negatively affected the lives of many individuals throughout the world. Look around you there may even be someone close to you that is demonstrating signs of its stifling affects. Depression does not discriminate with its suffocating

An increase in the global statistic of suicide rates has sparked a worldwide concern in mental health where it is put

A strong case can be made for investing in mental health, whether to enhance individual and world wellbeing, improve life span, or even to enable people living with mental illnesses to have a better quality of life. Mental health problems account for a quarter of all ill health yet they receive less than 6% of all health research funding, people with these health conditions usually experience poor access to help services and lower quality care than those with physical health problems. Addressing mental and physical health needs together would be more cost effective for the NHS and would benefit the increasing numbers of people dealing with untreated mental illness.

Suicide rate is a grow problem in the United States according to the American foundation for suicide prevention more than 41,149 suicides were reported in 2013. The highest rate of suicides is committed by adults between age 45-64 and this is especially true amongst the elderly. Older adults are inflected with a terminal disease, loneness and depression and because of this they are committing suicide at a higher rate. Suicide amongst the men is steadily higher than women, in 2013, 77.9% were male and 22.1% were female. Men success rate for suicide is much higher, because their attempt is more lethal, for example, men are more than likely to shot themselves, whereas women are more likely to use poisons to end their life. Suicide Rate committed race/ethnicity was higher among Whites 14.2%, American Indians and Alaska Natives 11.7%, Asians and Pacific Islanders 5.8%, Blacks 5.4% and Hispanics 5.7%. According to the mean method used to commit suicide is a firearm, then suffocation and poisoning. The main cause of suicide is due to mental health condition and depression is at the foremost leading factor.

Depression is a mental health mood disorder that affects a person’s ability to function in the society, and it has increased over the years. It affects 1 in 6 persons in the United States or approximately 17.6 million Americans yearly (Andrew & Brenner, 2012). Depression affects a person’s ability to function physically, socially, psychologically and economically. . It does not only affect the individual it also affects the family and friends. It is estimated that 10-14 million people yearly will be diagnosed with depression and women age 18- 48 account for the largest proportion (National Alliance on Mental Illness, 2009). Although depression is diagnosed more in women than in men, men are more likely to commit suicide due to depression. The factor of men that commit suicide is 4.5: 1. White men comite78% of all suicide, 56% of suicide in male involve firearm while poison is more common among women. The increase in depression is caused by chronic illness, personal life experiences and life style changes. And the economic cost is estimated at $30- 44 billion annually in the United States (Andrew & Brenner, 2012). Detecting depression early and using the appropriate treatment will prevent frequent

The mental health intervention and prevention focus impacts the quality of life. The lack of assessment and underreporting of depression results in lower quality of life and increases disease mortality (Stoop, et al., 2015). Stoop, et al., report (2015) purposed the solution to the lack of mental health care is to incorporate “stepped care intervention”. The report asserts that depression is not recognized by the majority of health care providers as well as not reported by those that do recognize it. Furthermore, the report asserts that “stepped care intervention” is effective therapeutically and financially. The method calls for screening, intervention of education and therapy, followed by continued monitoring (Stoop et al., 2015). Limitation in the method are lack of participation attributed to stigma of mental illness but the effect size of decreased depression shows promise (Stoop et al.,

According to the World Health Organization (2017), major depression is a prevalent disorder, affecting over 300-million people globally. It is common for depression to be comorbid with other disorders, it is the leading cause of disability, and greatly increases risk of suicide, the second leading cause of death among individuals ages 15-29. This increasing prevalence is making the disorder continually pressing issue for mental health providers worldwide (World Health Organization, 2017).

More people suffer from depression than you might think. People of all ages, backgrounds, lifestyles, and nationalities get clinical depression. An estimated 35 to 40 million Americas living today will suffer from major depression at some time during their lives. (4) This is about 13 to 20 percent of all Americans. (1) About half of these individuals will experience recurring depression. (3) Despite being what authorities call "the nation's leading mental health problem" (6), depression is often misdiagnosed or undiagnosed, and therefore not treated. (4) Often as a result, about 25 percent of these people attempt suicide to end their

The treatment and prevention of mental illness can be difficult, and as with physical illness, no case or result is the same for everyone. Treatment varies for each illness, as well as for individual client needs and level of severity. With the numerous choices of treatment available today, people around the world have a greater chance at not only preventing or decreasing mental illness, but also the opportunity to enhance their mental health through the public health model of primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention.

Since in most cases of depression people have suicidal thoughts or attempt to commit suicide, health providers believe that it’s important to disclose as much data in regards to this subject. Depression is an illness that often goes unrecognized, and it must be addressed more frequently. Every year there are 800,000 suicides worldwide and fifty percent of them who commit suicide are depressed (WHO). The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention reports that 25 million Americans suffer from depression and more people deal with this illness than those who suffer from coronary heart disease and HIV(TheOverNight). Especially people of ages 15-29 are at a

It has been reported that the number of people with mental disorder is increasing in our communities at an alarming rate. Environmental and social changes are among the most mentioned causes of the accelerating rate of mental illness in society (Häfner, 1985). Despite the prevalence, about one fifth of the adult population will battle with mental illness every year ("Facts and figures about mental illness," 2014) and the acknowledgement of authorities mental illness is still given less attention then is needed to treat the problem successfully. Health bodies need to be putting more resources into this area as

Mental healthcare needs to be funded in conjunction with physical healthcare (1) (8) (9) so that liaison psychiatry services to address mental health needs are included in specifications for emergency, unscheduled and elective physical healthcare. This principle should also apply to complex or regional services, such as those that are commissioned through national service commissioning. Funding mechanisms for liaison psychiatry, such as commissioning, need to be applied so that services are cohesive and can provide holistic patient care (10).

Depression is the most common of all psychological disorders, affecting 100 million people worldwide. The depression ranges from mild feelings of uneasiness, sadness, and apathy to intense suicidal despair. (Kasschau) If left untreated, it could lead the

Since we’ve been children, we’ve always been taught the importance of keeping up the physical health of our bodies. Whether it was a motivational speaker coming to talk to us about how important it is to have a healthy and balanced diet in middle school, or our elementary school teachers telling us about the importance of physical activity along with the benefits and health factors of fruits and vegetables, the importance of good health has always been stressed. Unfortunately, while people stressed the importance of physical health, mental health does not receive the same treatment. This has caused many people not to know about the importance of treating your mental health, which should be emphasized just as much the importance of