The number of Long Islanders diagnosed with depression at some point in their lives rose from 10% to nearly 20% in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new CDC study that analyzed 2020 data. had reached
A study found that young people across the country had the highest levels of diagnosis. Long Island mental health experts expect schools and businesses to close by the end of March 2020, and the results are surprising given the once-in-a-lifetime health, social and political stressors caused by the pandemic. said it shouldn’t be done. Quarantine and lock down.
“In the last three years, we’ve all been through a lot… not just the pandemic,” said Colleen Marlo, chief executive of Ronkonkoma’s Mental Health and Wellness Association. “Look at the world we see. It’s so divided … It’s a difficult time for young people.”
A report released Thursday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that depression was diagnosed at 21.5% among adolescents aged 18 to 24 nationwide as of 2020, the highest among those aged 65 and over. It was the lowest at 14.2%.
What you need to know
- Number of Long Island residents diagnosed A new CDC study found that between 10% and nearly 20% of people suffered from depression at some point in their lives during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Age of adolescents nationwide Among 18- to 24-year-olds in 2020, the highest rate of people diagnosed with depression was 21.5%.
- was the lowest among them 14.2% for those aged 65 and over.
“Approximately 1 in 5 adults in the United States reported having received a diagnosis of depression from a health care provider in 2020, and more women, younger adults, and adults with lower levels of education reported depression. The prevalence is high,” the CDC said in its report on prevalence. Mortality Weekly.
“I think young people don’t have the resources and tools that older generations have developed,” Merlo said of the disparity in depression diagnoses between young and old. The prevalence of depression that has been highlighted overall is “consistent with what we have known for some time,” she added.
Although the report does not include data specific to Nassau and Suffolk counties, depression rates ranged from 10.7% to 19.4% according to the report’s color-coded map showing Long Island, which also includes Brooklyn and Queens. rice field. Statewide, 16.7% of people 18 and older were diagnosed with depression in 2020.
According to the CDC report, most states in the Appalachian region (with percentages ranging from 24.5% to 31.9% in some counties in West Virginia), as well as Missouri, Oklahoma, and Washington, are in the Southern Mississippi Valley. Regions had the highest levels of depression.
Victor Fornari, Ph.D., director of child and adolescent psychiatry at Zucker Hillside Hospital in Queens, part of Northwell Health, said the latest data show “significant evidence that depression is on the rise among the general population.” It reflects my experience,” he said.
“And certainly the pandemic has contributed to that…especially [younger] Fornari added. “…our country is in a mental health crisis.”
Shari Lübeck, assistant vice president for child mental health and welfare at Garden City’s Family Children’s Association, said the department saw a 24% increase in hospitalizations for depression from 2021 to 2022.
“There has been a steady increase in depression, suicidal ideation and suicide attempts,” Lübeck said. She said her agency has “actually adapted our approach” to ensure treatments “meet specific needs.”
In fact, Fornari says there is a growing collaboration among health care providers to address this issue, with pediatricians, primary care physicians, and internists testing and treating patients for depression and, if necessary, He is working with a psychiatrist.
Fornari said efforts to raise awareness of the issue among the general public and the medical community are ongoing, but challenges remain.
Cooperation is important, he said, because “there will never be enough psychiatrists to care for the community.”
He added that the medical community was “required to screen for depression” at physical examinations.
“Primary care physicians are increasingly treating depression as part of patient care,” Fornari said. Treating the disease is usually not uncommon in mild to moderate cases.”
Merlo said people suffering from depression should call the national crisis hotline at 988, or their local provider, or Merlo’s organization’s hotline at 631-471-7242 extension 2.
“Without treatment, things tend to get worse rather than better,” she says.
