Depression

Broadcast: July 8, 2003
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VOICE ONE:
I'm Sarah Long with Doug Johnson, and this is the VOA Special English program, SCIENCE IN THE NEWS.
VOICE TWO:
This week -- we look at some recent news about depression. The findings appeared last month in a special issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
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VOICE ONE:
A new study finds that more than half of Americans with major depression seek treatment. Ten years ago, only one-in-three sought help. Yet many people who go for treatment do not receive enough care or the right care. In fact, the study says only twenty-one percent of all Americans with major depression get the kind of care that the government says they should.
The researchers questioned more than nine-thousand people age eighteen and older. The year-long study began in February of two-thousand-one.
Kathleen Merikangas is with the National Institute of 1)Mental Health. She was one of the lead researchers of the study of depression in the United States. Mizz Merikangas says major depression is now the number one cause of disability in the general population across the world. She notes that heart disease was the leading cause of disability as recently as nineteen-ninety-six.
Mizz Merikangas says about sixteen percent of Americans suffer major depression at some point in their lives. That is more than thirty-million people. She says around thirteen-million experienced depression last year. Those numbers are about the same as they were ten years ago.
VOICE TWO:
The study found that women have a fifty-six percent greater chance than men to become depressed¹ at some time in their life. But this difference between men and women has gotten smaller over the years. Also, the study found that poor people and less-educated people have among the highest rates of depression.
The researchers say depression is more common in people ages eighteen to forty-four than in people over the age of sixty. Mizz Merikangas says that is possibly because older people have learned to accept their situation and better deal with the realities of life.
Most people who reported having depression in a given year said the sickness had a major affect on their lives. Mizz Merikangas says it can affect jobs, marriage, and parenting. Those with severe depression in the past year reported being unable to work or carry out normal activities for an average of thirty-five days.
VOICE ONE:
Ronald Kessler of Harvard Medical School led the study. He says many doctors may not know about new treatments for depression. Professor Kessler says research has shown that the best treatment is a combination of medication and help from doctors in dealing² with psychological problems. He says treatment should be based on the individual. That is because no treatment works for everyone.
In the study, patients were considered to have been treated correctly if they met either of two requirements. If they received medicine, they received it for at least a month and met four times with a doctor. If they did not receive medicine, they met at least eight times for thirty minutes with a mental health expert.
VOICE TWO:
Another study in the Journal of the American Medical Association reported about the cost of depression in the workplace. The researchers estimate that lost productive³ time from depression adds at least thirty-one-thousand-million dollars a year in costs for employers. The researchers questioned more than one-thousand American workers by telephone over a two-month period last year.
The study says workers without depression reported an average of one-and-a-half hours of lost productive time a week. But workers with depression reported more than five-and-a-half hours a week in lost productivity⁴. The researchers say most of that time is lost through reduced performance while the employees are at work.
Researchers from the AdvancePCS Center for Work and Health in Maryland led the study. Eli Lilly, the company that makes the antidepressant drug Prozac, provided money for the research.
VOICE ONE:
Many depressed people continue to go to work. But the researchers say these people do not perform at their normal level. Many are unable to think clearly or get along well with others in the workplace.
Yet many people still avoid treatment because they do not want others to know they are depressed. Some people who do seek treatment stop their medicine before they are supposed to. Still others do not get enough medicine. And there are generally more doctors and other resources to help people who live in cities than those in less populated areas.
VOICE TWO:
Depression is often difficult to recognize. So it can often go untreated. Experts say many employers do not take the disorder⁵ as seriously as they would other sicknesses. The experts say 2)interventions such as employee assistance programs and groups that help people deal with depression are ways to help.
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VOICE ONE:
Depression affects not just the mind but also the body. The 3)symptoms include feelings of sadness, hopelessness, not wanting food and trouble sleeping. Depression has been linked to other disorders⁷, including heart disease.
Researchers now say the risk of death is three times greater in people who have heart attacks and later develop depression. That is compared to those who have heart attacks and do not develop depression. It is the same level of risk as from smoking.
Depression can also run in families. Health experts say depression is the main reason people kill themselves.
It is hard to tell if someone is depressed. Doctors do not always ask patients with possible symptoms. Researchers say doctors who do not have special training in mental health may not recognize the signs or do enough to treat them. Also, some health plans may limit the ability of patients to receive the expert care they need.
VOICE TWO:
Another report in the Journal of the American Medical Association deals with depression among doctors. It says that doctors often fail to recognize depression in themselves and seek treatment. Studies have found that doctors have a greater risk of suicide⁸ than the general population. Yet fewer doctors die from cancer and heart disease than the general population. Experts say that is because cigarette use dropped among doctors when they recognized the dangers of smoking.
Researchers say all these findings show that depression must be taken more seriously. Doctor Thomas Insel [IN-suhl] is director of the National Institute of Mental Health. He notes that about thirty-thousand people a year in the United States kill themselves. That is almost twice the number as those killed by others. Doctor Insel says there is no scientific reason to treat mental disorders any differently than physical disorders.
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VOICE ONE:
There are drugs that doctors use to treat depression. But in developing countries, not many people are able to get these 4)antidepressants. Paul Bolton is a professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health in Baltimore, Maryland. Mister Bolton says the drugs are too costly⁹, have a lot of side effects and must be taken for a long time -- months to years. He says that in developing countries, the best medicine may be just to have people talk about their problems.
VOICE TWO:
Professor Bolton led a study of depression in Uganda. The Journal of the American Medical Association included the results in its special issue last month on depression.
His team studied two-hundred-twenty-five Ugandan men and women. They went through four months of treatment. Each week they met in groups led by the researchers. The researchers found that eighty-six percent of the people had signs of major depression. After the therapy, only seven percent of the people still had those signs.
Paul Bolton calls the early results very promising¹⁰. He says he and his team still do not know what it was about this intervention⁶ that worked. Perhaps the important part was meeting in groups and talking. He says he feels this study has demonstrated that it is possible to have few resources and still be effective.
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VOICE ONE:
SCIENCE IN THE NEWS was written by Cynthia Kirk and Nancy Steinbach. Our producer was Cynthia Kirk, with audio assistance from Phoebe Zimmermann. This is Sarah Long.
VOICE TWO:
And this is Doug Johnson. Join us again next week for more news about science in Special English on the Voice of America.

注释：
1) mental [5mentl] adj.精神的，智力的
2) intervention [7intE(:)5venFEn] n.干涉
3) symptom [5simptEm] n.（医）症状，征兆
4) antidepressant [7Antidi5presEnt] n.（医）抗抑郁剂，抗抑郁病药

1 depressed   

adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的

参考例句：

• When he was depressed,he felt utterly divorced from reality.他心情沮丧时就感到完全脱离了现实。
• His mother was depressed by the sad news.这个坏消息使他的母亲意志消沉。

2 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

3 productive   

adj.能生产的，有生产价值的，多产的

参考例句：

• We had a productive meeting that solved some problems.我们开了一个富有成效的会议，解决了一些问题。
• Science and technology are part of the productive forces.科学技术是生产力。

4 productivity   

n.生产力，生产率，多产

参考例句：

• Farmers are introducing in novations which increase the productivity.农民们正引进提高生产力的新方法。
• The workers try to put up productivity.工人设法提高生产率。

5 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

6 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

7 disorders   

n.混乱( disorder的名词复数 )；凌乱；骚乱；（身心、机能）失调

参考例句：

• Reports of anorexia and other eating disorders are on the increase. 据报告，厌食症和其他饮食方面的功能紊乱发生率正在不断增长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The announcement led to violent civil disorders. 这项宣布引起剧烈的骚乱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 suicide   

n.自杀，自毁，自杀性行为

参考例句：

• The number of suicide has increased.自杀案件的数量增加了。
• The death was adjudged a suicide by sleeping pills.该死亡事件被判定为服用安眠药自杀。

9 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

10 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。