Heart Patients Vunerable To Depression
Although clinical depression is often seen in illnesses like migraine disease and epilepsy, it’s now thought that it’s common in patients with heart problems, too. This is the finding of the American Psychiatric Association, anyway. It is unknown why heart disease and clinical depression seem to pop up together, just like it’s unknown why migraines and depression often pop up together.
The Findings
The APA claims that about 20% of all people with heart disease also have all of the signs of clinical depression and yet are not diagnosed with clinical depression. So far, they are not sure if the clinical depression sets in before or after the heart problems manifest. But the APA strongly recommends that anyone that has been diagnosed with cardiovascular problems should also seriously consider that they have clinical depression, too and get treatment. This is especially important in men, who are reluctant to admit that they might have clinical depression. African-American men seem to be the most reluctant to get help for depression.
Diagnosis Problems
That people with clinical depression haven’t been diagnosed shouldn’t be a surprise. Although there is still a stigma attatched to having a mental illness, it’s the thought of having to pay for treatment which puts many people off. “I already have an expensive condition with cardiovascular disease — I can’t afford to treat anything else.”
If you really can’t afford therapy or metal health help, you can ask your social worker or your local Respresntative if there are any state-run programs that could help you get access to low cost or free mental health services. That’s what I did. Big thanks to the kind staff at Representative Nick Micozzi’s office in Clifton Heights. (Micozzi — the only Republican I’ve ever voted for).
When you have clinical depression, you just assume that you can’t afford to get help. You also might think that you CAN’T be helped. I had both of those assumptions, but have been helped. Of course, I could have been helped sooner if I had just went to get help sooner than I did. But, well — you live, you learn.
And I don’t have heart disease (knock on wood).
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