Photo of a face National Mental Illness Screening Project
National Depression Screening Day:
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National Depression Screening Day (NDSD), held each year during Mental Illness Awareness Week, is designed to call attention to the illnesses of depression and manic-depression on a national level, to educate the public about their symptoms and effective treatments, to offer individuals the opportunity to be screened for the disorders, and to connect those in need of treatment to the mental health care system.

As part of the screening, registered sites receive:

Procedure Manual
Publicity Guide
Screening Kit - choose from regular, older adult, or college
Posters and ad slicks

National Depression Screening Day - the first mental health screening program of its kind, has now amassed the largest database of any mental health research project. The National Institute of Mental Health, a sponsor of the program, has analyzed some 100,000 individual screening forms containing symptomatology, demographic and mental health care treatment history questions.

Recent NDSD data provides invaluable insight into who is and who is not receiving treatment. Consistently, more than 80 percent of the people who score positive for depression are not in treatment at the time of the screening. Nearly 60% had never been in treatment.

The National Institute of Mental Health analysis also has revealed that five symptoms appear more frequently in people who screen positive for depression. The symptoms are psychological in nature and are not symptoms that would generally lead participants to seek professional help. This may be one explanation for the vast discrepancy between depression's prevalence and its rate of treatment.

NDSD follow-up studies are demonstrating that the program is effective in motivating those who screen positive for the illness to seek treatment. Recent data indicates that as many as 65% of those who score positive and are referred for a full evaluation follow through on the recommendation.


Sponsors:

American Psychiatric Association
National Mental Health Association
National Institute of Mental Health
McLean Hospital
National Association of Psychiatric Health Systems
National Alliance for the Mentally Ill
National Depressive and Manic-Depressive Association

Supporters:

American Association of Retired Persons
American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry
American Association of General Hospital Psychiatrists
American Association of Suicidology
American College Health Association
American Counseling Association
American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
American Geriatrics Society
American Hospital Association Section for Psychiatric and Substance Abuse Services
American Medical Association
American Psychiatric Foundation
American Psychological Association
American Society on Aging
Association for University and College Counseling Center Directors
Employee Assistance Professionals Association
National Association of Social Workers
Wellness Councils of America

Funding Sponsors:
Supported in part by an educational grant from

Abbott Laboratories
Charter Behavioral Health Systems
Eli Lilly and Company
Forest Laboratories
Kaiser Permanente
PacifiCare Behavioral Health
Partners HealthCare System
Pfizer Inc
Solvay Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories


   
AlcoholAnxiety • Depression
Eating Disorders
Interactive Screening
Suicide Education and Research

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