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Depression in Long Term Care Heart Patients Often Goes Untreated
Cardiologists, other doctors and long term care staff might be missing the big picture as one survey suggests that only a third of heart disease patients with serious symptoms of depression or anxiety get any treatment. The findings are significant because psychological problems have been linked to poorer health and higher death rates in heart disease patients. Unfortunately, long term care residents and other heart patients just aren't being screened because physicians are just focused on the heart disease and don't think about other factors that could contribute to the condition. We know that heart attack survivors suffer from psychological distress twice as much as the general population and, with congestive heart failure patients, who are often residing in nursing homes, the figure is twice that?Staggering! However, only about one third of heart disease patients who report the symptoms are ever treated by a mental-health provider. This is appalling because research suggests that psychological problems often contribute to the onset of heart disease and worsen its progression. It's not entirely clear how psychological distress and heart disease are connected. However, there is some speculation that psychological symptoms may contribute to blood clots or make the heart beat less efficiently. Since the overwhelming amount of long term care residents are women, it's important for staff to note that women with mild and moderate depression are 50 percent more likely to have heart attacks than are other women. It's also crucial to note that depression and anxiety are frequent responses to traumatic events, such as the life-threatening and chronically debilitating illnesses, which are often seen in long term care settings. The seriousness of these symptoms is usually proportional to their duration and depth and the degree to which they compromise the resident's life quality and/or participation in the treatment process. Triggers for referral for a psychological evaluation include symptoms that have continued for more than two weeks or significantly impair functioning, life quality or participation in prescribed treatment programs. The role of heart doctors in detecting psychological problems in their patients who are long term care residents is a big problem. They often don't have time because of the new emphasis on quick turnaround and high productivity. That places the onus squarely on the long term care staff who see the resident every day. One remedial protocol to identify the residents who really need help might be for nurses and other staff members to help screen residents before they meet with their cardiologists. Neglecting identification and treatment of psychological symptoms in residents with heart disease is very unfortunate because doctors now have effective tools to treat psychological problems, which might lead to a lessening of both the psychological distress and cardiac dysfunction. Copyright 2005, M. Shery http://www.nursinghomes.md/ Dr. Michael Shery is the founder of Long Term Care Specialists in Psychology, a mental health firm specializing in consulting to the long term care industry. Its website, http://www.NursingHomes.MD provides state-of-the-art mental health treatment, facility staffing and career information to long term care professionals. To get a copy of the special report, "How to Reduce Resident Agitation Using Strength-Embedded Counseling," email: drmike@nursinghomes.md and put "Special Report" in the subject field. Reprint Instructions Box: You may reprint this article only in its entirety and as long as you leave all links in place, don't modify the content and include the resource box as listed.
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Alternative Medicine How to Uncover the Reason You Cant Sleep Tonight If you are like me ...you love your sleep! Vagus Nerve Stimulation Should be Used Early in Treatment when Traditional Antidepressants Fail Lifetime Prevalence of Depression and the Age-of-Onset Report Distributions of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders(DSM) in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication To Long Term Care Professionals: How to Dramatically Improve your Residents Psychiatric Care Long term care facilities and residents' doctors should consider combining medication treatment with psychological and behavioral approaches, such as strength-embedded psychotherapy, for a range of psychological disorders. Depression-My Story What is depression? Depression Keeps 19 Million Adults From Being Productive Approximately 19 million American adult workers allow depression to limit their productivity. According to the American Medical Women's Association, this includes 5 million women, many of whom will quit or loss their jobs directly due to the depression. 7 Things You Can Do Immediately To Ease Depression 1. Get out now and walk fifteen minutes. It will get your feet moving and help you feel you are at least able to do something. Depression: One Womans Story Sharon was talking to a friend on the phone one night. When her friend asked, "How are you?" Sharon suddenly exploded with emotion. Without warning, she began sobbing and literally collapsed in a heap on the floor. Her friend came over and took Sharon's kids for the night. Sharon cried for hours till she fell asleep. It was only the first of many sleepless nights. Depression And Celiac Disease Depression is a condition which affects about 15% of the population. Women are more likely to be affected than men. Depression and Procrastination: Twins in the Job Search My definition of procrastination is that a person delays and delays actions that are required by a job or actions necessary to accomplish something in everyday life. Manic Depressive Episodes And Scientology Scientologists believe that chemical imbalances do not exist. In their view manic episodes should be treated with periods of introspection and audits; a notion which is particularly bizarre and scientifically untenable. Eliminate The Belief That Your Illness Is Genetic Many illnesses, emotional and otherwise, are often said to be genetic in origin. When one is told that their particular problem is of a genetic nature it often leaves them feeling helpless since, to date, the idea of reversing something that is stored deep within one's structural DNA, which exists in every single cell of one's body, is considered an impossibility. Efficacy and Safety of Vagus Nerve Stimulation for Depression Published in Journal On September 1st, the efficacy and safety of vagus nerve stimulation for depresssion was published in the prestigious peer reviewed journal of Biological Psychiatry. Acidity Depresses Thyriod Function THE RISK Your Daily Struggle With Depression If you have been diagnosed with depression or feel that you are dealing with depression on a daily basis, you may feel that depression is consuming your life. You worry about everything. You don't want to do anything. The things that used to make you happy, well, they just don't seem important anymore. You need to realize that depression is a serious condition and that without the assistance of a doctor, depression just won't go away. Depression Many of us feel depressed at one time or another, but for some, depression may be chronic and even debilitating. Depression is the Number One Cause of Disability in the United States According to the World Health Organization, 4 of the 10 leading causes of disability in the United States and other developed countries are mental disorders, including major depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia. Approximately 23% of American adults each year have a diagnosable mental disorder and as many as 5.4% of American adults have a serious mental illness. Disability is NOT a Life Sentence On September 30th 1998 I was crossing the street in a crosswalk when a young man ran through a red light running me over at 40 mph. He dragged me down the street as he tried to leave the scene of the accident. Stress and Depression are Killing Us! A short generation ago, families could set their watch by the time the father got home from work each day. My dad always walked through the front door at precisely 6 PM and supper was served at 6:10. We'd all sit around the table discussing the events of the day and then go out on the street to spend time with the neighbors when the kitchen chores were done. 5 Tips to Reduce Depression While war and poor economic conditions begin to affect people all over the world, more and more people suffer with depression. The more we focus on news events and the business climate, the more we are depressed. Whatever the reason you feel is the cause of your depression, the following five simple tips guarantee you reduce it significantly. New Treatment for Depression to be Presented at the American Psychiatric Association Annual Meeting Within the next few weeks, the FDA is expected to issue its final approval of a medical breakthrough treatment for chronic or treatment-resistant depression. This new therapy will be presented at the American Psychiatric Association's Annual Meeting in Atlanta from May 21st-May 25th. The Annual Meeting is the largest gathering of psychiatrists in the world. Over 25,000 psychiatrists are expected to attend this important medical meeting.
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