Mental and physical illnesses are taking big toll on the working days of employees thereby causing monetary loss to companies. 50% of Americans on average is losing 32.1 working days a year due to 30 different illnesses. So, 3.6 billion days a year are lost due to these diseases of which mental illnesses account for 1.3 billion days. This was revealed in a survey by Harvard Medical School researchers. The results are published in the October issue of Archives of General Psychiatry. Survey was conducted on 6,000 adults over age 18. Depression is the major mental illness while neck and back pain is the major physical illness that is responsible for loss of so many work days. But researchers have not given any guidance on monetary impact due to loss of these work days. Physicians failed to diagnose mental illnesses properly. 75% of elderly patients who committed suicide were consulted doctors just before one month. But doctors failed to diagnose the underlying mental illness and treat it. Depression is the major factor for these suicides. How many work days lost due to mental disorders? Depression took toll on 387 million working days while 214 million days lost due to social phobia. 113 million work days lost due to post traumatic stress disorder (POST), 110 million days lost due to generalized anxiety and 103 million days due to bipolar disorder. Panic disorders accounted for 101 million while substance abuse took toll on 93 million working days. Chronic conditions like cancer (71.5 million), heart attack (204 million), stroke (221 million), and vision loss are also taking so many work days of people. Governments should spend more money to study the diagnosis and treatment of the musculoskeletal conditions and psychiatric disorders. … [Read more...]
Why suicide rates are rising in American youth?
According to CDC (Centre for disease control and prevention), Suicide rates for males and males in America aged 10-24 rose by 8%. This is the largest 1-year rise in 15 years. Suicide rates which are in decline from 1990 onwards are again rising especially in youth. Suicide rates are almost doubled in the 10-14 year old girls. We may know in the coming years whether it is a changing trend or statistical fluctuation. It is not a surprise to see “how to commit suicide?” and “best way to commit suicide” as popular Google search terms. If you check Google trends for suicide, 7 out of top 10 cities are American cities. Most surprising aspect is increase in suicide rates coincided with decrease in SSRI prescription rates. But we should not come to conclusion just basing on 1 year data. In late 2004, Food and Drug Administration called drug manufacturers to put a “Blackbox” warning on the drug labels, cautioning about the possibility of increased suicide risk in minors. Contrary to FDA reports, several research studies conducted in the last year suggested that antidepressants are more likely to reduce suicide risk than increase it. According to a research study published in American journal of Psychiatry, decrease in prescription of anti-depressants by few percentage points, coincided with 14% spike in suicide rates. Along with changes in prescriptions, increased rates of mental health disorders and increase in Alcohol and drug use are other causes for these suicides. Most common methods used to commit suicide: 1. 1990: The most common method was with a firearm for both males and females. 2. 2004: The most common method was by hanging/suffocation among girls. 3. 2004: Boys used forearms to commit suicide as the common method. We may need more comprehensive approach to control the rising suicide rates in American youth. FDA should conduct more research studies to know the effects of antidepressants on suicide rates especially in youth. Please share your opinion. … [Read more...]
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