In 2001, the WHO recognized depressive disorders as the leading cause of disability worldwide. But despite the significant health and social functioning impacts associated with depressive illness, most Americans who meet diagnostic criteria for major depression are untreated or undertreated. Luckily, recent advances in psychiatric epidemiology that quantify the prevalence and burden of mental disorders, the adequacy of service delivery methods, and the risk factors that contribute to morbidity and mortality have finally made it possible for the field of public health to address mental health in the population. Public Health Perspectives on Depressive Disordersfills a much-needed gap by identifying the tools and strategies of public health practice (e.g. surveillance and screening, early identification, preventive interventions, health promotion, and community action) and exploring their application to twenty-first-century public mental health policy and practice.
By looking at depressive disorders through a public health lens, this book highlights the centrality of mental health to public health, underscoring the universality and challenge to recognize and promote improved mental health care for depressive illness. Linking the available research literature on depressive illness at the population level with public mental health policy and practice, expert contributors set a research agenda that will help bring mental health further into the agendas of public health science and practice. Additionally, the book provides an invaluable resource for researchers and practitioners to develop, facilitate, and conduct pilot and feasibility studies of promising preventive and treatment interventions that might mitigate the progression toward major depression and other mental disorders among populations at risk.
The first part of the book underscores the public health significance of depressive illness by focusing on the evidence provided by recent approaches to nosology, epidemiology, illness burden, and impact on overall health. The second part looks at the social and environmental influences on depressive disorders that are critical to future efforts to prevent illness and to promote mentally healthy communities. The third and longest part addresses the vulnerability of diverse groups to depressive illness and underscore best practices to mitigate risk while improving both the preventive and therapeutic armamentarium. Aimed at postgraduate student audiences across a number of disciplines including public health, psychology, social work, nursing, psychiatry, public policy, and health administration, Public Health Perspectives on Depressive Disordersis an essential volume.
List of Contributors Acknowledgments 1. The Path to the Public Health Recognition of Depressive Disorders, by Neal L. Cohen Part I 2. Depressive Disorders, by Daniel C. Kopala-Sibley and Daniel Klein 3. The Burden of Depressive Illness, by David A. Kessler, Evelyn J. Bromet, Peter De Jonge, Victoria Shahly, and Marsha Ann Wilcox 4. The Burden of Comorbidity, by Sergio Anguilar-Gaxiola, Daniel Vicente Vigo, and Kate M. Scott 5. Substance Use and Depressive Disorders, by Jacquelyn L. Meyers and Deborah Hasin Part II 6. The Social Epidemiology of Socioeconomic Inequalitiesin Depression, by Helen Cerigo and Amelie Quesnel-Vallee 7. Maternal Depression and the Intergenerational Transmission of Depression, by Constance Hammen 8. The Influence of Stigma for Depression Care, by J. Konadu Fokuo and Patrick W. Corrigan Part III 9. Youth Depression, by Jennifer L. Hughes and Joan Asarnow 10. Understanding Adolescent Suicide, by Regina Miranda, Ana Ortin, Lillian Polanco-Roman, and Jorge Valderrama 11. Interrelationship of Suicidality with Depressive Disorders and Its Implications for Suicide Prevention Strategies at the Population and Individual Levels, by Beth Han, Wilson M. Compton, and Richard McKeon 12. Mindfulness-Based Approaches for Promoting Mental Health in Urban Youth, by Tamar Mendelson and April Joy Damian 13. Mindfulness-Based Approaches for Promoting Mental Health in Urban Youth, by Amelia R. Gavin and Rebecca Rebbe 14. Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Depressive Illness and Clinical Care, by Alfiee M. Breland-Noble and Jeanne Miranda 15. Public Health Perspectives on Depression in Primary Care, by Trina Chang and Albert Yeung 16. A Twenty-First-Century Public Health Challenge and Opportunity, by Neal L. Cohen 17. The Digital Revolution and Its Potential Impact on Detection and Treatment of Depressive Disorders, by Charles Platkin, Alissa Link, and Amy Kwan 18. Preventing the Onset of Depressive Disorders, by Pim Cuijpers Index
""Collecting work from an array of experts, Cohen (New York State Office of Mental Health) offers an excellent addition to the literature on mental health that examines depressive disorders from a public health and policy perspective. This book is well organized and fairly comprehensive.""
