|
Region shows
mixed results in ranking by depression, suicide
(February
2008 Issue)
By Ami Albernaz
New England showed mixed results in a recent ranking of the 50
states and the District of Columbia by depression and suicide rates,
with Vermont ranking as the region's least depressed state and Massachusetts
recording the region's lowest number of suicides per capita.
The report's producers, the Alexandria, Virginia-based nonprofit
Mental Health America and Thomson Healthcare (part of the information
company The Thomson Corporation), based their depression rankings
on the percentage of adults and adolescents who reported experiencing
at least one major depressive episode in the past year; the percentage
of adults saying they experienced severe psychological distress;
and the average number of days within a recent month that respondents
reported their mental health was not good.
Vermont ranked twelfth in terms of depression rates (where one
is the least depressed state); Massachusetts was close behind, at
number 16. Massachusetts also had the nation's third-lowest suicide
rate. Interestingly, Rhode Island ranked 48th out of 51 in terms
of depression, but had the fifth-lowest suicide rates in the study.
The results of the study can be found at www. mentalhealthamerica.net/go/state-ranking.
David Shern, Ph.D., president and CEO of Mental Health America,
says the study was not intended to highlight individual states,
but to draw broad lessons about what improves or impedes mental
health. "A key component of a good showing in the rankings is access
[of mental health services] and in order to access them, they have
to be available," he says.
States with more mental health professionals (psychologists, psychiatrists
and social workers) per capita fared better than those with fewer.
Lower barriers to treatment, including lower healthcare costs and
higher overall socioeconomic status were also affiliated with lower
depression and suicide rates. The variation among the states was
significant: Rates of depression in the least depressed states (around
seven percent) was 40 percent lower than average rates in the most
depressed states (over 10 percent). Suicide rates in the highest
frequency states were nearly four times that of the states with
the lowest frequency.
States with mental health parity laws in place tended to fare better
than those without them. "The strong, affirmative finding was that
parity laws make a difference," Shern says. Parity has been in
place Massachusetts since 2000, while Vermont's parity law, passed
in 1997, is considered among the country's most comprehensive.
Ken Libertoff, executive director of the Vermont Association for
Mental Health who was instrumental in the passage of Vermont's bill,
says that it has "vastly expanded access to treatment" in his state.
"Our parity bill has made an enormous difference in the private
sector insurance marketplace," he says. "It's helped promote a more
preventative culture and has extended outpatient care."
At a time when the fate of parity on a national scale lies with
Congress, looking to states that already have such laws can be instructive,
Shern says. Longer term investment in a mental health workforce
will also be needed to ensure there are enough providers, particularly
in rural areas. "It's important that we have some concrete national
data on things we can affect, like the number of mental health professionals
and the ability to get insurance," he adds. "Some people are skeptical
- they say that throwing money at a problem won't affect anything.
But we've shown that this really is a matter of life and death."
|
