Leipzig/Berlin (pag) – The German Depression Aid and Suicide Prevention Foundation (DDH) has published the results of this year’s Germany Barometer Depression. Accordingly, 23 percent of respondents currently suffer from a diagnosed depression, eight percent fall ill every year. Prof. Ulrich Hegerl, Chairman of the DDH, points out treatment offers and talks to those affected.
«Depression is the disease in the healthcare system with the greatest room for improvement,» says Prof.Hegerl. On average, patients wait ten weeks for a therapy appointment, according to the study. «In the case of such a painful illness as depression, which is also associated with a high risk of suicide, such long waiting times are unacceptable,» emphasizes Hegerl. In addition, those affected often need up to 30 months to seek help. The typical symptoms of depression – listlessness and the loss of any hope of improvement – stand in their way.
The main pillars of treatment are psychotherapy and taking medication, according to the DDH. Martha Wienck, who herself suffered from depression, explains that the drug treatment helped her a lot, among other things, in order to be able to work therapeutically productively at all. She is not alone in this as an affected person. 62 percent of respondents who are currently ill take antidepressants, 48 percent have chosen psychotherapy. 35 percent use a combination of both treatments. According to the survey, 80 percent and 85 percent respectively rate these treatment methods as positive.
The first points of contact are predominantly the family doctor (51 percent), a specialist (25 percent) or a psychological psychotherapist (19 percent).In addition, there are many low-threshold help offers, such as the information telephone depression or the digital iFightDepression tool, which is supported by doctors and therapists.
The survey includes 5,050 people between the ages of 18 and 69. The study was funded by the Deutsche Bahn Foundation.
This full text is unfortunately reserved for medical professionals
You have reached the maximum number of articles for unregistered visitors
Source — https://www.univadis.de/viewarticle/zehn-wochen-wartezeit-auf-psychotherapie