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Acting on the science to prevent depression
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Louis Pasteur communicated to doctors to wash their hands before surgery. After Pasteur, lifetimes doubled as doctors and communities dropped old habits and actively practiced prevention of infection. A similar opportunity awaits our action today. As with hand washing, it is practical for every adult to learn and to teach youth habits of awareness and resilience. Depression prevention is practicing skills of awareness, problem solving and coping. It can greatly improve the quality of life. Physicians call it psychoeducation. Early recognition and treatment of depression and other psychiatric illnesses appear to be the best way to prevent suicide, according to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
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You can act today to prevent depression. It is easier to keep healthy kids healthy than to help kids after symptoms appear. For suggestions on achieving this, view the information within the Parent Resources page or the School Curricula page of this website. The prevention resources are from leading research and treatment providers:
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| Children's Hospital Boston |
Johns Hopkins Hospital |
McLean Hospital |
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Parents and teens can partner with their pediatrician by requesting psychoeducation during each well child visit, including an assessment such as the Pediatric Symptom Checklist to flag common symptoms of depression to discuss such as recurring headache or stomachache and irritability. The importance of prevention and early treatment is clear because depression is common, it appears in youth, and early action is most effective:
half of us who will ever experience depression show symptoms by age 14 (Archives of General Psychiatry, Kessler, R., June, 2005)
untreated depression can lead to a more severe, more difficult to treat illness (ibid)
psychoeducation can prevent depression before symptoms appear (Prevention of Depression in at-risk adolescents, JAMA, Jun 2009)
Treatment For Adolescents with Depression Study (TADS) confirms depression is treatable for majority using talk therapy (CBT) and antidepressants (Archives of General Psychiatry, Oct 2007)
depression is the leading cause of disability (NIH Pub. No. 03-5121)
most individuals who complete suicide have depression (NIH Pub.No. 06-4594 and National Strategy for Suicide Prevention)
80% of adolescent suicides are completed by boys (Report on Mental Health, Surgeon General)
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| Physicians psychoeducation activities can prevent a significant number of cases of depression (JAMA. 2009;301(21):2215-2224). For those who do develop symptoms, prevention psychoeducation increases awareness, resilience, and coping skills with the purpose of promoting early recognition and intervention in order to prevent serious crises from occurring.. Treatment is effective for the majority of adolescents who develop symptoms of depression (JAMA. 2004;292:807-820). Every doctor can know prevention of depression and actively facilitate its practice. |
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- 'Universal' prevention helps every youth, rather than attempting to identify whom may have diagnosable symptoms at the moment.
- 'Indicated' prevention targets high risk kids with psychoeducation.
- When we are not able to prevent symptoms, 'Selective' or 'Clinical' intervention is required.
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