Today, I got this email from the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics.
STAT of the WEEK:
In 1999-2004, almost 9 percent of adults aged 20-29 reported having major depression, generalized anxiety disorder, or panic disorder within the past 12 months. (Source: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, "Health, United States 2008")
Even though I have been a Psychiatric Social Worker for over 40 years for the life of me I don't know what to make of a statistic like this?
10% of people in their 20s report having major depression, generalized anxiety disorder, or panic disorder in the previous 12 months! Could that be true?
It is great news for the pharmaceutical industry. Has the pharmaceutical industry created a demand and an awareness which makes people think they are ill?
I'd love to read your comments.
I don't know what to make of it either, but I can tell you that every single one of my close friends (not family, just my four closest girlfriends) have been treated for anxiety and/or depression in the last couple of years. Their suffering was real, and happily, 3 of the 4 were able to get relief by working with a therapist, not through medication. One, in particular, still battles significant anxiety but resists medication for many reasons.
ReplyDeleteI guess we could look at this one of two ways. Either there has always been a high percentage of people with these problems and they just didn't seek help, or help was not as readily available as it is now, whereas today we have a greater awareness of mental illness so people now have a name for problems that may have previously been unaddressed; or there is some other factor at work that is causing people to manifest these issues.
I have no idea what would cause such a high statistic, but the number itself actually doesn't surprise me at all. Only being 30 years old, I don't know what life was like several decades ago, but pretty much every facet of society today seems so broken and jaded. It is no surprise to me that so many people feel broken and jaded too.
Hi Moe:
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment.
I still don't know quite what to make of it.
Times are certainly different now than they were in previous generations but I don't know if these psychiatric symptoms are any more prevalent now than in the past?
I think that your idea that people are more aware and they have words to name these experiences probably has a lot to do with it and it fits with the postmodern idea of mental illness, to some extent, being a social construction.
Thanks again for your comment.