Shedding More Light on Depression

By Annemarie Donkin

Depression is one of those conditions where what you don't know can really hurt you. Its symptoms take on many forms and-manifests--itself in chronic pain, headaches, unspecified anger, sadness, insomnia, exhaustion, stress, overeating or a lack of appetite. It can also affect your work, school, and relationships with family and friends. Good mental health is something that everyone wants. After all, a healthy mind typically leads to a higher quality-of-life. Unfortunately, mental illnesses are more common than most people think. It is estimated that one in five California residents will experience a mental illness during their life span, according to the State Department of Mental Health.

"Depression can occur at any age, and in any gender or race," said Dr. Arjun Reyes, M.D., medical director of the Behavioral Health Unit at Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital. "Although treatment is almost always successful, less than half of those suffering from depression will seek treatment. Unfortunately, people tend to think that depression isn't serious, and that they can deal with it themselves. Depression is often looked on as a personal weakness rather than a serious medical illness."

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, in any one-year period, 9.5 percent of the population, or about 18.8 million American adults, suffer from a depressive disorder. Depression can strike anyone regardless of age, ethnic background, socioeconomic status, or gender. But, large-scale studies have found depression is about twice as common in women as in men.

Mental Health Month

Recognized since 1947, Mental Health Month is a national initiative to make people aware of their mental health and those around them. Cary Quashen, executive director of Behavioral Health Services at Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital, welcomes the attention and focus on the various conditions that can affect mental health, including some of the most common mental health disorders in the Santa Clarita Valley.

According to Quashen, the most common mental health illnesses seen in the Santa Clarita Valley include depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. He has been working with patients for 25 years and observes that life is more stressful now, causing a great deal of people to increasingly seek treatment for stress and stress-related depression, which differs from chronic depression. "Mental illnesses are real, treatable and more common than most people realize," he said. "It is important to recognize symptoms, and to seek help when necessary."

Nationwide Attention

According to a recent "Newsweek" article, the annual economic impact of adult depression estimated at $83 billion in lost productivity. Fortunately, Quashen said public awareness is growing, largely through the media, celebrities speaking out, the Internet and talk shows such as "Oprah," and "Dr. Phil." He sees a difference in people's new willingness to talk about depression and subsequently seek help and feels the media has a lot of power to send the message that is it open to talk about.

"We need to take care of our behavioral health as much as much as our physical health, sometimes more," Quashen said. "We need to pay attention to our spiritual and emotional well-being. People should not be afraid to talk about behavioral health or depression, it is not taboo like it was years ago."

Depression is Real

Dr. Reyes offers a perspective on the new awareness that a state of sadness is not something that simply will pass with time.

"I think for psychiatrists, we see more difficult cases now, because of managed care," Reyes said. "Mostly now, we treat resistant cases -the referrals are usually done from psychologists or their primary care physicians. Reyes pointed out the difference between situational and chemical depression.

"I think the way to asses the need for psychotropic medication is if there is a significant family history, then one can be genetically predisposed and one should pay more attention to the symptoms," he said. "I think it is based more on the extent and duration of the depression, because everybody has stress or anxious moments, but if it goes on for more that two weeks without relief, it can become more chemical in nature."

Reyes feels the purpose of Mental Healthy Month is to promote awareness and education, especially within families.

He also pointed out that certain physical illnesses, medical conditions, medications, surgery or any kind of physical injury or trauma can trigger a short-term state of depression and urges greater self monitoring to assess the length and duration of the symptoms.

"We didn't have as many tools back then, about 20 years ago," he said. "Now, we have better medications and more tools to work with - it has cracked the field wide open."

Quashen touched on two other conditions that can become a life-changing crisis without treatment. "Schizophrenia is not what people think, it is not about multiple personalities," he said. "It is audio and visual hallucinations and people are affected in different ways, but we have come a long way in treatment."

He said there are many types of bipolar disorder that can take many different forms. "No one wants to think they have a mental illness, but their emotions can go from A-Z at the drop of a dime," Quashen said. "One minute they are so depressed the world is coming to an end, and then they are euphoric and make bad decisions, bad investments, bad relationships, have sexual problems, or use drugs and alcohol."

Treatment, Quashen said, is variable depending on the diagnosis and individualized based on what is going on in their lives.

"It is incredible, for anyone who is affected with mental health, it affects not just them, but everyone around them, and the effect quadruples," he said.-

He said it is especially important for men to admit when they have a problem with depression or bipolar disorder. "It is real, and it doesn't make you weak to admit you are depressed, it takes courage to admit you need help."

More Stressful Lives

"We have a very stressful society," Reyes said. "I think American culture is getting more and more competitive, we work too many harder than other countries, and expect much more from each other than in the past. What happens all the time people are stressed out and don't do anything about it,"

He said this lack of care could result in difficulties at work, fighting with a spouse, children or siblings and or having trouble at work or in school.

"At that point, they need to do something to help the situation, like watching their diet, getting more sleep or doing something relaxing," Reyes said. "People just, people push through what they have to do at work or school and don't step back and asses their emotional state."

Yet, there are signs of hope. Quashen and Reyes feel more people are inclined to seek help for themselves and their children, but they feel we still thinks we have a national crisis.

"People now have a harder time paying bills, buying houses, filling the gas tank, buying food, and life is a lot tougher," Quashen said. "Most people are a paycheck away from living out on the streets; people live beyond their means and go into crisis a lot easier."-

Seeking Help

Quashen said the Behavioral Health Unit at Henry Mayo treats mental health patients 18 years of age and older in a modern 23-bed facility. For more information about the services, visit Henry Mayo Online.

Additionally, Quashen said one could receive emergency crisis intervention at the Emergency Room of Henry Mayo if they find themselves in trouble.

For those without health insurance, they can receive treatment at the Child and Family Center, the Los Angeles County Mental Health Clinic and/or the Substance Abuse National Council. Additionally, he said people can apply for Medi-Cal or Family Health Care for substance abuse.

"Especially in the SCV, we are into helping people," Quashen said."Nobody gets turned away at Henry Mayo - there's no shame in asking for help if you suspect that you or someone you love may have a mental illness, seeking help is a sign of strength, not weakness."