-Bryan Brunatti

-Marissa Waldon

-Stephanie Super

-Ethan Darling

DEPRESSION

Antidepressant drugs are prescribed in Utah more often than in any other state, at a rate nearly twice the national average.

Other states with high antidepressant use were Maine and Oregon.

Utah’s rate of antidepressant use was twice the rate of California and nearly three times the rates in New York and New Jersey.

Anti Depressant Use In UtahBryan Brunatt i

A new state report says nearly 13 percent of Utah's population is taking medicine for depression on the recommendation of doctors.

Factors: Limited mental health resources. Restricted access to treatment because of cost. Poor quality of resources. Underfunded educational system. Culture deeply rooted in the Mormon faith.

Contributing Factors

“Availability to resources, a lack of professionals and barriers to treatment, including the ability to pay all drive up instances of depression” said Dr. Curtis Canning, a Logan-based psychiatrist and former president of the Utah Psychiatric Association. “But there is also - - especially when it comes to women and girls - - a cultural factor.”

Contributing Factors

According to The Deseret News, the Utah Department of Health says that in 2009, women were prescribed more than twice as often as men.

60% of Utah’s residents are Mormon.When Express Scripts issued its fi rst national survey

of prescription drug use in 2002, it sparked a heated debate across Utah about what, if any role, the church played in the state’s high dependence on antidepressants such as Prozac and Zoloft.

Depression In Women Linked To Religion

"In Mormon cultures females are supposed accept a calling. They are to be constantly smiling over their family of five. They are supposed to take supper across the street to an ill neighbor and then put up with their husband when he comes home from work and smile about it the whole time. There is this sense that Mrs. Jones down street is doing the same thing, and there is this undercurrent of competition. To be a good mother and wife, women have to put on this mask of perfection. They can't show their tears, depression or agony," Canning said.

Depression In Women Linked To Religion

Depression In Women

Utah is continually on the rise for suicides with 500 deaths last year.

Suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death in Utah for ages 10-25. The 4 th for ages 25 and older.

Utah’s suicide rate has bee consistently higher than the national average for the last decade.

Depression And SuicideMarissa Waldon

Men make up the highest percent of suicides.

Women make up the highest percent of attempts.

Utah’s suicide rate has been consistently higher than the national average for the last decade.

Depression And Suicide

National Alliance of Mental Illness is the main and one of the only prevention programs for Utah. They have crisis lines for

each county.The Salt Lake Health

Department website has a list of signs and symptoms as well as what to do in case of attempt or worry of suicidal actions that may occur.

Information and Prevention

National Alliance on Mental Illness: http://www.namiut.org/inform-yourself/suicide-prevention

Utah Health Department:http://www.health.utah.gov/vipp/suicide/

Utah Behavioral Health Crisis Lines: Wasatch Front Crisis Lines Davis County 801-773-7060 Salt Lake County 801-261-1442 Utah County 801-373-7393 Heber County 801-318-4016 Weber County 801-625-3700

Utah Crisis Lines

Studies showed that 67% of patients admitted into treatment programs claimed to be depressed. After treatment only 13% of patients were diagnosed

with depression.30-50% of alcoholics are suff ering from major

depression at any given time. It is a deadly mix. It directly reduces the levels of serotonin in the brain;

this is a neurotransmitter that anti-depressant medication like Prozac (anSSRI increase your levels of.

One of the biggest causes of people drinking too much alcohol is as a way of coping with depression. Unfortunately alcohol itself causes further depression.

Depression And Alcohol/DrugsStephanie Super

Alcoholics go through a period of grieving when they give up drinking. For those dually- diagnosed with alcoholism and depression, the grief over not being able to drink is intensified. That’s usually because once people with co-occurring disorders stop drinking, all the feelings that have been medicated over the years by alcohol start to surface. This can cause them to go though very real, profound agony.

Alcohol And Depression

5 ways to help: 1. Build a solid social sober support network. 2. Avoid people places and things that trigger the

urge to drink. 3. You are responsible for your own recovery. 4. Start with friends from your support groups and

go from there. 5. Report any unusual symptoms to your doctor

immediately.

Prevention

Currently being studied to instantaneously treat depression.

“Ketamine (or ‘special K’, as you might have heard it called) works by increasing the number of connections in your brain” says Ronald S. Dumban, Ph.D. professor of psychiatry and pharmacology director at Yale University.

“Picture a healthy neuron as a Christmas tree”, he says. “It has plenty of branches to connect with other cells. In depressed people, stess hormones attack these connections…responsible for regulating mood.”

“Ketamine blocks one of those damaging hormones, allowing your brain to re-grow its broken branches” says Carlos A. Zarate Jr., Chief M.D. at the National Institute of Mental Health.

Ketamine And Depression

Short-term eff ects: Amphetamines increase attention and

alertness and reduce tiredness. They make you feel energetic and confident

Long-term eff ects: As the drug leaves the body, you may

feel drowsy, anxious, depressed, and irritable, It can also cause a psychotic reaction, with paranoia, especially if you already have a diagnosis of mental health problems.

Amphetamines

Ecstasy: Short-term: Causes release of serotonin, making you feel

happy and relaxed. Long-term: Reduces the amount of serotonin stored in the

brain in turn causing depression. Diffi cult to treat because it doesn’t respond to antidepressants.

Heroine: Very addictive. If a person is addicted and does not take it on

a regular basis it can lead to severe depression.LSD (Lysergic Acid Diethylamide):

Short-term: feelings of detachment from your surroundings and strong hallucinations.

Long-term: some people who were prescribed LSD in the 1960s and ’70s to help recover repressed thoughts and feelings reported that their mental health had been permanently damaged though there is no evidence of long term damage.

Other Drugs Involved With Depression