Please call the Counseling and Student Development Center at 753-1206 if you have any questions about this important program. Come out and educate yourself about a very widespread and treatable condition. With treatment, not only do people recover, but they often go on to lead more productive, informed lives than before being diagnosed and treated. People with depression often feel alone, not realizing that depression affects more than 17 million Americans in any given year. Recent studies have shown that heart-attack survivors with major depression have a three to four times greater risk of dying within six months than those who do not suffer from depression.
Dysthymia is a mild form of depression that lasts two years or more.
The World Health Organization estimates that by the year 2020, unipolar major depression will be the second-most burdensome illness in the world, surpassing respiratory infections and tuberculosis. Teen suicide rates have increased more than 300 percent since the 1950's. Screening Day is designed not only to bring attention to depression and suicide, but to connect people with treatment and support resources in their area. It offers anyone the opportunity to complete a free, anonymous screening test for depression and manic-depression, hear an educational presentation on the disorders and speak individually with a mental health professional. The recent school shootings, as well as the steady stream of academic literature that indicates that suicide is a continuing unsolved problem, should focus all of us on the misunderstood illness of depression and manic depression.