July is Minority Mental Health Awareness Month.  It is estimated that 1 in 5 minorities struggle with depression, which is the leading cause of disability in the United States.  Depression is a serious condition that negatively effects how people think, feel and function in their daily lives.  As one patient recently said:

”When you have depression, it’s not like you feel you can’t get off the couch. 

It feels like you can’t get the couch off of you.”

Importantly, statistics show only about 25 percent of minorities who have major depression or other mental health disorders receive the medical help they need.  Getting well begins with knowing the signs and symptoms of major depression.

What Are the Symptoms?

According to the American Psychiatric Association, depression symptoms vary from mild to severe and can include:

• Feeling sad or having a depressed mood
• Loss of interest or pleasure in activities once enjoyed
• Changes in appetite — weight loss or gain unrelated to dieting
• Trouble sleeping or sleeping too much
• Loss of energy or increased fatigue
• Increase in purposeless physical activity (e.g., hand-wringing or pacing) or slowed movements and speech (actions observable by others)
• Feeling worthless or guilty
• Difficulty thinking, concentrating or making decisions
• Thoughts of death or suicide

There is Hope!

There are effective treatments that can help people with depression get well, including cognitive therapy and medications.  What you need to know is that about 50 percent of the time, people do not respond to their first antidepressant medication.  However, new advances in personalized medicine may help.  GeneSight^® is a pharmacogenomics test that is clinically proven to improve medication selection when used by healthcare providers.  GeneSight analyzes how an individual’s genetic variations affect his or her response to medications and provides an actionable, easy to interpret report. GeneSight is used by healthcare providers to help patients diagnosed with depression.

Take Action Today

If you or someone you know is battling with depression, ask your doctor about treatment options.  And, if you’re having a hard time finding a medication that works, ask your doctor about the GeneSight test.  You can find more information about depression at National Alliance on Mental Illness website (www.NAMI.org) and for more information about genetic testing visit www.GeneSight.com.  Remember, when it comes to mental illness, you are not alone.

Be well!

Click here to take the next step with GeneSight