| Half
of all family caregivers are clinically depressed and need medical
help Psychiatric professionals need to be aware that roughly half of all caregivers are clinically depressed, requiring treatment and efforts to promote better mental health, according to a two-day panel discussion on mental health of caregivers held at the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Human Development (U.S.). Rosalynn Carter, wife of former President Jimmy Carter and a longtime advocate of mental health and caregiving, designed this discussion platform to bring together the work of individuals at the Institute and the Carter Center Mental Health Program. "More than 15 million caregivers provide unpaid care to relatives who are aged, chronically mentally ill, and mentally retarded," said Ronda C. Talley, Ph.D., executive director of the Institute. "There is a great need to better educate individuals about what they can do to help promote mental health and to prevent and treat mental health problems." The burden of caring for a family member places caregivers at risk for mental and physical disorders, Talley said. Virtually all studies evaluating caregivers have found high rates of clinical depression and anxiety. Dr. Carl Eisdorfer, one of the expert panelists in caregiving and mental health research, found that an estimated 46 to 59 percent of caregivers are clinically depressed (with roughly 49 percent of female caregivers and 31 percent of male caregivers affected). Eleven panelists came together at the meeting to discuss the mental health impact on physical health of caregivers, ethnic and cultural considerations, faith-based approaches to caregiving, and mental health policy for caregivers. The panel will also collaborate to write a book as part of a new book series. Caregiving and Mental
Health panel members included Carl Eisdorfer of the University of
Miami; Patricia Stone Motes, Institute for Families in Society;
Stephen Post, Case Western Reserve University; Pamela Jumper Thurman,
Tri-Ethnic Center for Prevention Research; Thomas R. Smith, International
Center for the Integration of Health and Spirituality; William Beardslee,
Harvard University; Anita Brown, Hampton University; Jane Myers,
University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Michael J. English,
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and
Mental Health Services Administration; Susan Taylor-Brown, University
of Rochester Medical School; and Sherry R. Schachter, Memorial Sloan
Kettering Cancer Center. |