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| |  51 Million Americans Affected at a Cost of $160 Billion WASHINGTON, Oct. 2, 1995 -- "The direct and indirect costs of (mental) illnesses to our society are more than $160 billion a year," Rex Cowdry, M.D., acting director of the National Institute of Mental Health, told reporters during an American Psychiatric Association (APA) live teleconference on Friday, September 29, 1995. In anticipation of Mental Illness Awareness Week (October 1-7, 1995), the APA with support from Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE: BMY) hosted a panel of eminent physicians to discuss some of the most important issues affecting mental health care in the 90s. The panel met with reporters to discuss mental disorders that affect more than 51 million Americans each year. The panel members were: Rex Cowdry, M.D., acting director, National Institute of Mental Health; Michael First, M.D., Columbia University, editor of the new APA diagnostic manual; Silvia Olarte, M.D., chairperson, National Committee of Hispanic Psychiatrists for the APA; Jan Fawcett, M.D., Department of Psychiatry, Rush-Presbyterian St. Lukes Medical Center; and Nada Stotland, M.D., president of the APA Women's Caucus. Addressing the prevalence of mental illness, Dr. First said that up to 50 percent of Americans will have a mental disorder in their lifetime, and that at any point in time up to 25 percent of Americans suffer from a mental disorder. Under-recognition and under-treatment of mental disorders is a serious problem that burdens society with a great cost both socially and economically. Dr. Olarte spoke of the need for psychiatrists and other physicians to be aware of the fact that culture can influence the doctor-patient relationship, the presentation of a given mental disorder, the determining of a higher frequency of one symptom over another, or can define the existence of specific disorders prevalent mainly among certain cultural groups. Dr. Fawcett told the reporters that society today sometimes finds it difficult to understand why medications are used for psychological disorders and that there are fears of addiction and mind control, but that medical research has increasingly shown that more severe mental disorders are really medical illnesses, often involving a changed metabolism in the brain. He said there have been developments in psychotherapies which are very effective and it is now believed that the combined use of psychotherapies and medications produce the best results. Dr. Stotland focused on gender issues dispelling myths that a lot of people still believe. For instances, she said, there is no data to corroborate the myth that a woman at menopause is predisposed to mental illness or that paid employment causes extra stress on a woman. Dr. Stotland said women are much more vulnerable to depression and they are two to three times more likely to be depressed than men. She asserted that the difference begins at adolescence around puberty and she believes there are hormonal components. Confronting the fact that one in ten Americans have a mental disorder producing measurable disability, Dr. Cowdry stated that dramatic advances in neuroscience research have uncovered unparalleled insight into how the brain develops and organizes itself in the course of life. According to Dr. Cowdry, this research will clearly provide more knowledge about the specific roles of the ever-increasing number of brain neurotransmitters and receptors, hopefully leading to the development of more specific pharmacological approaches to treatment. He speculated that the real breakthroughs may well come from molecular biology. He expressed hope that research will bring society closer to identifying ways to intervene either pharmacologically or behaviorally to reduce the profound disability, the pain and mortality that's associated with mental illnesses. Every year since 1983, the first full week of October has been observed as Mental Illness Awareness Week sponsored by the APA and a coalition of mental health organizations. These eminent physicians offered their time to increase understanding and raise awareness about mental illness disorders that affect 51 million Americans each year. Led by the APA, advocacy groups reach out to millions of Americans to bring hope through information about effective treatment. According to the APA, people suffering from mental illness can live healthy, productive lives with proper treatment. That's why the theme for Mental Illness Awareness Week is "Treatment Works."
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