11 ms·
Why Are Young Americans Killing Themselves?
- DanBC 7y ago> when we know perfectly well how to treat this illness? > We know that various psychotherapies and medication are highly effective in treating depression. First choice treatment, especially for mild depression, is cognitive behaviour therapy. We know this is effective for about 60% - 70% of the people who go through it. I don't know if I'd call that "highly effective". For medium to severe depression a medication should be tried. The evidence isn't great. Lots of people suffer side-effects, lots of people stop taking meds, some meds have only weak evidence of effectiveness. https://www.nhs.uk/news/medication/big-new-study-confirms-antidepressants-work-better-placebo https://www.nhs.uk/news/medication/big-new-study-confirms-an... A combination of talking therapy, medication, and social prescribing is probably a good idea, but there's not much evidence. And we need to get away from the idea that people who take their own lives are mentally ill. The target audience - young men - do not recognise themselves as being mentally ill, or if they do they fear the consequences of this because of stigma. And if it is mental illness it's hard to get away from the idea that the treatment needs to be medication and talking therapy. These are both important, but they need to be provided as part of a package that includes social isolation, relationship breakdown, criminal justice, substance use and misuse.