According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 1 in 5 Kentucky adults (19 percent) report ever being told by a health provider that they have a form of depression.
“In Kentucky, as with the nation, fewer than half of adults with a mental illness receive mental health treatment or counseling,” says Meriden Peters, Program Officer, Interact for Health.
The Kentucky Health Issues Poll (KHIP), sponsored by Interact for Health and the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky, asked Kentucky adults about experiences with depression and access to mental health support services and treatment.
Many see problems with depression
Half of Kentucky adults (49 percent) know a friend or family member they perceived to have a serious problem with depression. Women (53 percent) were more likely than men (45 percent) to report knowing someone they thought was depressed. Adults ages 65 and older (34 percent) were less likely than adults ages 18 to 64 (54 percent) to report knowing someone they perceived to be depressed. Kentucky adults in households earning 200% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines (FPG) or less (56 percent) were more likely than those with household incomes more than 200% FPG (45 percent) to know someone with depression.
7 in 10 say they know where to find help
Nearly 7 in 10 Kentucky adults reported knowing whom to contact for services or treatment for depression (68 percent). About 7 in 10 women (71 percent) and men (66 percent) said they knew whom to contact. Younger adults ages 18 to 29 (63 percent) and older adults ages 65 and older (58 percent) were less likely than adults ages 30 to 64 (74 percent) to know about services or treatment for depression.
Among Kentucky adults who said they knew whom to contact, 4 in 10 would tell a person with depression to seek help from a mental health professional or behavioral health center. About 4 in 10 would recommend seeing a doctor or seeking help from a hospital or local health clinic (37 percent). Two in 10 adults (22 percent) would recommend social services help, such as a church, human resource employee assistance programs or help lines.
A list of community mental health centers and psychiatric hospitals in Kentucky is available at http://dbhdid.ky.gov/crisisnos.aspx. A directory of providers is available at http://dbhdid.ky.gov/ProviderDirectory/ProviderDirectory.aspx.
“These surveys help us determine the issues Kentucky adults are facing and how to best focus our efforts to serve their needs,” says O’dell M. Owens, M.D., M.P.H., President/CEO of Interact for Health. “These results show that people are listening and are becoming more aware of the problems and where to go for help in solving them.”
More information about Kentuckians’ experiences with depression, and access to mental health support services and treatment, and other topics, is available at www.interactforhealth.org/kentucky-health-issues-poll.
