Holiday season can bring on blues

Are you blue this holiday season? If so, you are not alone. According to Joseph Mendels, director of the Philadelphia Medical Institute, the festivities bring out hidden depression in thousands of people of all ages. Many people who are clinically depressed are not diagnosed properly, Mendels said. Often, these people ignore signs of fatigue, loneliness, and lack of appetite, which are symptoms of depression. But during the festivities of the holiday season, these people become overwhelmed and their ignored depression comes to a head. "Come this time of year, people have to be happy," Mendels said. "For most of these [depressed] people, this season makes them worse." Depression is a problem for ten to 15 million people, especially those who are frequently alone. Clinically depressed college students are particularly vulnerable at school because there are so many parties during this season. Coupled with the excessive alcohol, which is a depressant, parties make many college students exhibit their depression. If they are home, these students manifest their depression when they are showered with attention from friends and parents who have not seen them in a while. The excessive affection makes their depression surface. Symptoms of depression are frequently misdiagnosed. In fact, according to the National Institute of Mental Health, only 30 percent of people are diagnosed and treated correctly. "80 to 90 percent of people with clinical depression could be cured or treated if [doctors] utilized treatments most efficiently," Mendels said. The Philadelphia Medical Institute, the clinic where Mendels has worked since his departure from the University's Psychiatry department, offers a free treatment program for those who qualify. Those selected after a free evaluation are treated for free for eight weeks to a year. Since he began this line of work, Mendels has treated 12,000 to 13,000 patients. If you think you might suffer from depression and would like more information, call 923-BLUE.

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