Depression: Gaps & Guideposts
Summary of Findings (continued)
Treatment Discontinuation
Fifty percent of people living with depression have found medication to be "extremely" or "quite a bit helpful" and 36 percent have found psychotherapy or counseling to be helpful as well.
When a person discontinues treatment-any treatment-the reasons can be complex or pose cause for concern. It is worth taking a closer, comparative look at some of the top reasons reported for discontinuations of each treatment. The responses were revealing measuring relative proportions between factors such as choice, cost, effectiveness, side-effects and social support.
Cost is a common factor (i.e. 27 percent of the time in the case of psychotherapy or counseling and 21 percent for medication, pointing to the need for greater access to coverage), but it is not the dominant factor
.
- In the case of medication, physical and sexual side effects are significant (26 percent), which points to the need to ensure that individuals have a range of choices to select the one that works best for them as well as for improved medications with fewer or no side effects.
Psychotherapy or counseling
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Didn't feel like it was working
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35%
|
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Too expensive; couldn't afford it
|
27%
|
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Got better and didn't need it anymore
|
24%
|
|
Wanted to see if I could "make it on my own
|
20%
|
|
Didn't like my health care provider
|
19%
|
|
I couldn't find a good health care provider
|
14%
|
|
Preferred alternative form of treatment
|
13%
|
|
No support from family or friends
|
6%
|
Medication
|
Wanted to see if I could "make it on my own
|
35%
|
|
Physical or sexual side effects
|
26%
|
|
Too expensive; couldn't afford it
|
21%
|
|
Didn't like taking a pill every day
|
17%
|
|
Didn't feel much of a difference
|
16%
|
|
Never felt like I received the right
medication or dosage
|
16%
|
|
Got better and didn't need it anymore
|
13%
|
|
Provider recommended it
|
7%
|
|
Increased thoughts of death/suicide
|
7%
|
|
No support from family or friends
|
6%
|
|
Preferred alternative treatment
|
4%
|
Caregivers
Almost half (48 percent) of caregivers have been diagnosed with depression, although at the time of the survey, only about 25 percent were engaged in treatment. The survey did not explore reasons.
Less than 20 percent of individuals living with depression reported receiving specific assistance from caregivers. But caregivers identified these most common forms:
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Help with household chores
|
53%
|
|
Transportation
|
'
38%
|
|
Meal preparation
|
34%
|
|
Medication monitoring
|
34%
|
|
Money or financial support
|
33%
|
|
Money management
|
27%
|
|
Housing
|
20%
|
Caregivers also reported major challenges, including:
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Managing time effectively
|
33%
|
|
Finding time for themselves
|
33%
|
|
Finding time to take care of their own health
|
31%
|
|
Making ends meet financially
|
29%
|
|
Feeling taken advantage of by the person
|
24%
|
|
Finding specialized services
|
24%
|
|
Accessing the health care system
|
23%
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Overview | Summary of Findings |
Summary of Findings Pt. 2 |
Methodology and Acknowledgements
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