Very Few Americans Seek Professional Help For Depression

John Hopton for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online
A new study has identified the devastating impact of depression on the lives of millions of Americans, detailing just how much of their time is dominated by the affliction and how much it affects their lives. And yet, the researchers reveal that very few sufferers ever seek professional help for the condition.
A similar study also looked at the demographic differences in those who experience depression, and found that while people in middle age are most likely to be depressed in general, females are more likely to encounter problems at any age. Researchers also found that the community a person lives can significantly affect how they are able to cope with depression.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, roughly one in 13 Americans experienced depression between 2009 and 2012. Yet, LA Times reporter Karen Kaplan writes that only 35 percent of people with severe depression and 20 percent of those with moderate depression said they had sought professional help from mental health workers such as psychologists, psychiatrists, psychiatric nurses or clinical social workers. This is worrying, the report authors say, given that therapy combined with medication is “the most effective treatment for depression, especially for severe depression.”
The researchers looked at a nationally representative group of American adults and teenagers who participated in the government’s National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), and found that women aged 40 to 59 have the highest rate of depression (12.3 percent) of any age and gender group. Gender distinctions applied in all other age groups too, where women always had higher rates of depression than men.
LiveScience reporter Bahar Gholipour looked at the report and explains that among people aged 12 and older, 9.5 percent of females and 5.6 percent of males had moderate or severe depression during a two-week period, based on the questions asked.
Meanwhile, the area in which someone lives is also a significant factor in how they experience depression, with residents in the communities with the poorest mental health reportedly spending 8.3 days a month in a negative frame of mind, compared to just half a day in better-off areas. African Americans (9.7 percent) and Latinos (9.4 percent) had higher rates of moderate and severe depression than whites (6.9 percent); however the variation can be accounted for by poverty rather than any inherent racial predilection.
That study was led by Stephan Goetz, professor of agricultural economics and regional economics at Penn State. Goetz is also director of the Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development.
The higher levels of depression among people living in less advantaged areas may be explained by long commute times, lack of neighborhood and community support and substance abuse, as well as the poverty itself.
Goetz told Penn State’s Matt Swayne that, “People who live in the suburbs are closer to jobs and all of the amenities that a big city can provide, but they’re also far enough away from the stress of the inner city. It may be that you don’t want to be too close to people, but you don’t want to be too far away either.”
“The more supported you are by the community, the happier you are, and the better you are able to cope with troubles,” he added.
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