Top Doctors: Understanding depression
Depression is a recurring theme in television dramas and celebrity tell-alls. Yet many Americans keep their own ill feelings bottled up, suffering in silence instead of seeking treatment.
"People are still undertreated, the diagnosis is still underrecognized, and it's very unfortunate because it's one of the more treatable illnesses that we have if it's recognized and if people will go for treatment," said Dr. Bruce Rosen, chairman of psychiatry at St. Catherine of Siena Medical Center in Smithtown.
Depression is considered a "mood disorder" because it affects a person's emotional state. An estimated 21 million adults and children in the United States experience depression each year, according to Mental Health America, a patient advocacy group.
SYMPTOMS
Depression may trigger any number of symptoms, including:
* Lack of interest and pleasure in daily activities
* Significant weight loss or gain
* Sleeplessness or sleepiness
* Lack of energy
* Difficulty concentrating
* Feelings of worthlessness or guilt
* Thoughts of death or suicide
"They can be walking very cheerfully and talking to people and all that, but inside they are feeling very sad," explained Yogendra Upadhyay, medical director of South Oaks Hospital, a psychiatric and substance abuse treatment facility in Amityville.
Nearly everyone experiences stressful situations that dredge up symptoms of depression, but those feelings often resolve on their own. A person with major depression, however, experiences persistent symptoms that interfere with daily life, experts say. Without treatment, the depression can linger and worsen.
RISK FACTORS
Though it's more common among women than men, depression affects both sexes. For men, though, the consequences tend to be more severe because men are more likely to die by suicide, according to the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health.
According to the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, other risk factors for depression include:
* Having a family history of depression
* Having a chronic medical condition
* Having a psychiatric disorder
* Being jobless or poor
CURRENT THINKING
Researchers suspect that depression results from a combination of genetic, biochemical, environmental and psychological factors.
Major depression is typically treated with a combination of "talk therapy" and antidepressants. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), a class of medications that includes Prozac, Celexa and Zoloft, are often prescribed, as are serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs), such as Effexor and Cymbalta.
Whether children and teens with depression should be given SSRIs, however, remains in question, Upadhyay noted, because some studies have linked use of these drugs to an increased risk for suicidal thoughts or attempts in children, adolescents and young adults. Other studies have found that the benefits of taking antidepressants outweigh potential risks.
When conventional therapy fails, clinicians sometimes try other treatments. A recent study in the Archives of General Psychiatry found that magnetic stimulation of nerve cells in the brain may be effective in alleviating depression. And for people with severe depression who have failed multiple treatments, the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health reports that electroconvulsive therapy, once known as "shock therapy," is sometimes effective.
THE LONG ISLAND SCENE
South Oaks and its partners, Eastern Long Island Hospital in Greenport, the town of Southold and the Mental Health Association in Suffolk County, are working with primary care physicians on the North Fork to improve efforts to identify older adults with depression.
By integrating depression screening into doctor visits, the collaborators hope to catch more people who could benefit from a referral to a mental health practitioner, explained Kristie Golden, vice president of ambulatory and community services at South Oaks.
The project runs through June 2012.
Who's who
This is the sixth installment of a 26-week series in which Newsday presents Castle Connolly's list of top L.I. doctors. Today: psychiatrists.
PSYCHIATRY
Dr. Thomas Aronson
2 Brooksite Dr., Smithtown, 631-265-0909
Dr. Samuel Bailine
5 Ridgeway Rd., Port Washington, 516-883-3304
Dr. Raymond Behr
81-A Arleigh Rd., Great Neck, 516-482-1980
Dr. John Benjamin
1983 Marcus Ave., Lake Success, 516-216-1780
Dr. Sheldon Berman
8 Payne Circle, Hewlett Harbor, 516-374-4417
Dr. Ashok Bhatt
871 E. Park Ave., Long Beach, 516-889-8853
Dr. Cathy Budman
North Shore-LIJ Health System, Dept. Psychiatry & Neurology, 400 Community Dr., Manhasset, 516-562-3223
Dr. Patrick Carone
2000 N. Village Ave., Rockville Centre, 516-766-2871
Dr. Jovita Crasta
2277 Grand Ave., Baldwin, 516-377-5400
Dr. Marvin Frogel
78 Oxford Blvd., Great Neck, 516-482-5377
Dr. Michael Gurevich
997 Glen Cove Ave., Glen Head, 516-674-9489
Dr. Eli Katus
1035 Rte. 106, East Norwich, 516-922-5607
Dr. Jack Katz
1010 Northern Blvd., Great Neck, 516-336-2565
Dr. Amy Koreen
28 Elm St., Huntington, 631-423-8368
Dr. Kwang Soo Lee
221 Broadway, Amityville, 631-789-7448
Dr. Vera Liang
221 Broadway, Amityville, 631-598-7396
Dr. Jack Nass
580 Sunrise Hwy., West Babylon, 631-321-7697
Dr. Arthur Rifkin
585 Plandome Rd., Manhasset, 516-456-6557
Dr. Bruce Rosen
222 E. Middle Country Rd., Smithtown, 631-265-6868
Dr. Sherif Sami
7 Bond St., Great Neck, 516-487-9191
Dr. Michael Schwartz
33 Walt Whitman Rd., Huntington Station, 631-385-3313
Dr. Yogendra Upadhyay
400 Sunrise Hwy., Amityville, 631-608-5212
CHILD & ADOLESCENT PSYCHIATRY
Dr. Gabrielle Carlson
Putnam Hall, South Campus, Stony Brook University, 631-632-8840
Dr. Carmel Foley
Steven and Alexandra Cohen Children's Medical Center, 269-01 76th Ave.
New Hyde Park, 718-470-3550
Dr. Lajpat Gandhi
110 E. Main St., Huntington, 631-427-6411
Dr. Judith Greenberg
775 Park Ave., Huntington, 631-629-4790
Dr. John Pomeroy
The Cody Center for Autism, 5 Medical Dr., Port Jefferson Station, 631-632-3070
Dr. Deborah Weisbrot
Stony Brook University, Div. Child & Adolescent Psych., Putnam Hall, South Campus, 631-632-8840
Dr. Daniel Williams
3003 New Hyde Park Rd., New Hyde Park, 516-488-3636
How they were picked
Castle Connolly Medical Ltd. is a health care research and information company founded in 1991 by a former medical college board chairman and president to help guide consumers to America's top doctors and hospitals. Castle Connolly's established survey and research process, under the direction of a doctor, involves tens of thousands of doctors and the medical leadership of leading hospitals.
Castle Connolly's team of researchers follows a rigorous screening process to select doctors on national and regional levels. Using mail and telephone surveys, and electronic ballots, they ask physicians and the leadership of top hospitals to identify exceptional doctors. Careful screening of doctors' educational and professional experience is essential to the committee. Newsday is not part of the selection process.
Doctors do not and cannot pay to be selected and profiled as Castle Connolly Top Doctors.
To see the whole list . . .
Who else is on the list of Top Doctors? More than 6,000 listings are in the New York Metro Area edition of "Top Doctors," published by Castle Connolly Medical Ltd. The soft-cover list price is $34.95. For more information, go to castleconnolly.com, or call 800-399-DOCS.
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