Public Health Perspectives on Depressive Disorders

Description

In 2001, the WHO recognized depressive disorders as the leading cause of disability worldwide. But most Americans who meet diagnostic criteria for major depression are untreated or undertreated. Luckily, recent advances have finally made it possible for the field of public health to address mental health in the population. Public Health Perspectives on Depressive Disorders fills a gap by identifying the tools and strategies of public health practice and by exploring their application to twenty-first-century public mental health policy and practice. By looking at depressive disorders through a public health lens, this book highlights the centrality of mental health to public health. Linking the available research on depressive illness at the population level with public mental health policy and practice, expert contributors set a research agenda that will help make mental health a central part of public health science and practice. This book is an invaluable resource for researchers and practitioners to develop, facilitate, and conduct pilot and feasibility studies of promising preventive and treatment interventions that might mitigate the progression toward major depression and other mental disorders among populations at risk. The first part of the book underscores the public health significance of depressive illness by focusing on the evidence provided by recent approaches to nosology, epidemiology, illness burden, and impact on overall health. The second part looks at the social and environmental influences on depressive disorders that are critical to future efforts to prevent illness and to promote mentally healthy communities. The third and longest part addresses the vulnerability of diverse groups to depressive illness and underscore best practices to mitigate risk while improving both the preventive and therapeutic armamentaria. Neal L. Cohen, MD, is the senior medical advisor at the New York State Office of Mental Health. He previously served as New York City’s commissioner of health and mental health. An associate clinical professor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and an adjunct professor at the NYU School of Medicine, he is the editor of Psychiatry Takes to the Streets: Outreach and Crisis Intervention for the Mentally Ill and the coeditor of Population Mental Health: Evidence, Policy, and Public Health Practice. The path to the public health recognition of depressive disorders / Neal L. Cohen -- Depressive disorders : presentation, classification, developmental trajectories, and course / Daniel C. Kopala-Sibley and Daniel N. Klein -- The burden of depressive illness / Ronald C. Kessler, Evelyn J. Bromet, Peter de Jonge, Victoria Shahly and Marsha Wilcox -- The burden of comorbidity : depressive and physical disorders / Sergio Aguilar-Gaxiola, Gustavo Loera, Daniel Vigo and Kate Scott -- Substance use and depressive disorders / Jacqueline L. Meyers and Deborah Hasin -- The social epidemiology of socio-economic inequalities in depression / Helen Cerigo and Amelie Quesnel-Vallee -- Maternal depression and the intergenerational transmission of depression / Constance L. Hammen -- The influence of stigma for depression care / J.Konadu Fokuo and Patrick W. Corrigan -- Youth depression : public health implications and strategies to address the problem / Jennifer L. Hughes and Joan R. Asarnow -- Understanding adolescent suicide / Regina Miranda, Ana Ortin, Lillian Polanco-Roman and Jorge Valderrama -- Interrelationship of suicidality with depressive disorders and its implications for suicide prevention strategies at the population and individual levels / Beth Han, Wilson M. Compton, Richard McKeon -- Mindfulness-based approaches for promoting mental health in urban youth / Tamar Mendelson and April Joy Damian -- Maternal depression in pregnancy / Amelia R. Gavin and Rebecca Rebbe -- Racial and ethnic disparities in depressive illness and clinical care : challenges and solutions toward equality in care / Alfiee M. Breland and Jeanne Miranda -- Public health perspectives on depression in primary care / Trina Chang and Albert Yeung -- A 21st century public health challenge and opportunity : addressing depressive disorders in an aging population / Neal L. Cohen -- The digital revolution and its potential impact on mental health / Charles Platkin, Alissa R. Link and Amy Kwan -- Preventing the onset of depressive disorders : an overview / Pim Cuijpers.