Depression and other affective disorders have long gone underdiagnosed and untreated, but this growing crisis was exacerbated further by the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 41% of Americans 18 and older reported symptoms of anxiety or depression during the pandemic, compared to nearly 10.85% in 2019.
Rates of post-traumatic stress disorder and substance abuse also grew dramatically along with other risk factors for mental illness such as intimate partner violence and child abuse.
All of these factors come under the umbrella of a recent talk by acclaimed psychiatrist and author Dr. Ray DePaulo through the Florida Gulf Coast University Provost Seminar Series and the Naples Discussion Group titled “Depression: The Invisible Pandemic.”
DePaulo is a University Distinguished Service Professor and co-director of the Mood Disorder Center in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
WGCU's "Gulf Coast Life" caught up with DePaulo ahead of his Florida talk.
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