for seniors
Advocacy for Depression
Trained professionals in numerous settings diagnose and treat clinical depression:
- Family physicians, clinics, and health maintenance organizations can provide treatment
or make referrals to mental health specialists.
- Mental health specialists include psychiatrists, psychologists, family therapists, and
social workers. Psychiatrists can prescribe antidepressant drugs because they are
physicians. Other mental health specialists, however, often work with physicians to ensure
that their patients receive the medications they need.
- Community mental health centers, which often provide treatment based on the patient's
ability to pay, usually have a variety of mental health specialists.
- Hospitals and university medical schools may have research centers that study and treat
depression.
National advocacy or consumer organizations provide information about depression,
sources of treatment, and local community support groups:
- American Association of Retired Persons (AARP)
- Widowed Persons Services
- Social Outreach and Support
- 601 E. St. NW
- Washington, DC 20049
- (202) 434-2260
-
- National Alliance for the Mentally Ill
- 200 North Glebe Road, Suite 1015
- Arlington, VA 22203-3754
- (703) 524-7600; 1-800-950-NAMI (6264)
-
- National Depressive and Manic Depressive Association
- 730 North Franklin Street, Suite 501
- Chicago, IL 60610
- (312) 642-0049; 1-800-826-3632
-
- National Mental Health Association
- 1021 Prince Street
- Alexandria, VA 22314-2971
- (703) 684-7722; 1-800-969-6942
INFORMATION ON DEPRESSION
For more information on depression, diagnosis, and treatments, write to:
National Institute of Mental Health
6001 Executive Boulevard, Rm. 8184, MSC 9663
Bethesda, MD 20892-9663
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Public Health Service
National Institutes of Health
National Institute of Mental Health
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