Disabilities related to mental illness on the rise
There are several medications available to help mental health patients live a normal life: people with major depressive disorder can buy Paxil, while schizophrenics can buy Zyprexa.
There are several medications available to help mental health patients live a normal life: people with major depressive disorder can buy Paxil, while schizophrenics can buy Zyprexa. These drugs may be needed now more than in years past, as an increasing number of people report having disabilities because of mental health issues.
Researchers from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health reviewed data from the U.S. National Health Interview Survey, spanning 1997 to 2009 and entailing more than 312,000 patients. Between 1997 and 1999, 2 percent of non-elderly adults reported a disability; from 2007 to 2009, that number jumped to 2.7 percent, amounting to an increase of almost 2 million patients. Most of these disabilities were in people who had psychological distress and did not seek mental health services. The number of people not utilizing these services because of financial reasons also increased during the study period.
"These findings highlight the need for improved access to mental health services in our communities and for better integration of these services with primary care delivery," said author Ramin Mojtabai, MD, PhD. "While the trend in self-reported mental health disability is clear, the causes of this trend are not well understood."
Mojtabai also discovered a 30 percent increase in the number of antidepressant prescriptions written without a psychiatric diagnosis, prescribed by a doctor who was not a psychiatrist.
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