News spotlight: Antidepressant use climbs in the U.S.
Nurse Leader Weekly, August 10, 2009
Want to receive articles like this one in your inbox? Subscribe to Nurse Leader Weekly!
A growing number of Americans are seeking medication—rather than therapy—to treat depression, according to a recently-released study.
An Archives of General Psychiatry study found antidepressant use has doubled over the past decade. Researchers found about 10% of Americans were using antidepressants in 2005, which is twice the number in 1996. However, the percentage of antidepressant users receiving psychotherapy decreased from 31.5% to less than 20%.
The study, which was conducted among nearly 50,000 children and adults, shows that about 80% of patients were treated by doctors rather than psychiatrists and 50% were taking antidepressants for back and nerve pain, fatigue, and sleep difficulty.
Study author Mark Olfson, MD, MPH, says the findings suggest physicians need more training in mental health and he is concerned about the decline in numbers of patients who also receive psychotherapy, reports USA Today.
Sources: Archives of General Psychiatry and USA Today
Want to receive articles like this one in your inbox? Subscribe to Nurse Leader Weekly!
Related Products
-
Strategies for Nurse Managers
Strategies for Nurse Managers is a 12-page monthly how-to newsletter that was created exclusively to help you save time...
-
Strengthening Nurse-to-Nurse Relationships:
This educational video will help nurses at all levels understand the issue of horizontal hostility. It provides the expert...
-
Nurse Leader Weekly
Our informative free e-mail newsletter for nursing professionals delivers helpful tips and advice each week!
-
Staff Development Weekly: Insight on Evidence-Based Practice in Education
This e-mail newsletter reports on innovative training methods and mandatory training requirements. You'll also find tips on...
-
Quality Improvement for Nurse Managers:
This book and CD-ROM clearly outline a nurse leader's role in quality improvement and offer simple instructions to improve...
Most Popular
- Articles
-
- Featured blog post: Nurses face felony charges after reporting physician to the Texas Medical Board
- Topic: CMS, OESS post new security compliance review information, checklist
- HIPAA Q&A: Answering service messages
- Q/A: Volume requirement for reporting hydration services
- News and briefs: Oklahoma Osteopathic Association against residency bill change
- What does case-mix index mean to you?
- QA:Coding multiple initial infusions
- The debate continues: Nurses who reported physician to the Texas Medical Board file federal appeal
- OB services: Coding inside and outside of the package
- Are your workforce members texting PHI?
- E-mailed
-
- Featured blog post: Nurses face felony charges after reporting physician to the Texas Medical Board
- Are your workforce members texting PHI?
- Don't let these sentinel events trigger falsely
- Arkansas woman convicted for HIPAA violation
- Q/A: Coding infusions to correct low potassium levels
- Q&A tackles coding questions about injections and infusions
- Joint Commission Center announces handoff communication solutions
- Inside best practice: Reduce patient falls with a stoplight
- Identify modifiable risk factors to prevent patient falls
- Hospitalist-surgeon comanagement has no effect on outcomes
- Searched