WALTHAM, Mass., Nov. 8, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pata Suyemoto's Medicaid D plan has a cap on the money allocated to prescriptions. As a result, Pata, 50, who suffers from treatment resistant depression as well as asthma, must often choose between taking her anti-depressants or her asthma medication. As Washington D.C. debates additional cuts to funding for public health care, Pata, and many others like her, is concerned about what the changes will mean for her health.
For Pata, and the millions of Americans like her who battle mental illness, Congressional budget battles and spending cuts are much more than an ongoing news story. Mental illness affects over 75 million Americans, however, less than half of that population is actually receiving treatment. Barriers to mental health care access have severely impacted over 10.6 million American adults across the country, excluding access problems within the youth population.
Pata is part of the Families for Depression Awareness expanded Speak Out program – a national initiative designed to help reduce the stigma associated with mental health disorders and improving access to quality mental health care services. Like other patients and family members coast-to-coast, Pata is excited to tell her personal stories of depression and related illness because she believes that doing so will make a difference.
Now, Families for Depression Awareness – a national non-profit organization -- has expanded the Speak Out program to focus specifically on issues of mental health care access and parity.
"The Speak Out program is unique because participants use their real names, along with photos and videos of themselves and their families, to tell very personal stories," says Julie Totten, president of Families for Depression Awareness. "We're giving the debate about health care access and funding a face and a name, with stories that powerfully illustrate the challenges of the current system and the likely outcomes of proposed budget cuts. Ultimately, the goal of this program is simple: to focus on issues of mental health access and parity."
In online profiles, speeches and media interviews, people participating in the program from around the country describe what it is like to need medication they cannot afford, share the real-life impacts of being misdiagnosed in emergency rooms and discuss the frustration and fear of being unable to find or gain access to appropriate care.
In addition to its Speak Out program, Families for Depression Awareness offers information and tools for families and friends, interviews with psychiatric experts, education and outreach training on depression and advocacy to support families with depression.
To learn more about the Speak Out program, contact Katie McLoughlin at (781) 890-0220 or Katie@familyaware.org.
Contact: Julie Totten, President
Families for Depression Awareness
(781) 890-0220
julie@familyaware.org
About Families for Depression Awareness
Families for Depression Awareness is a national nonprofit organization that helps families and friends recognize and cope with depressive disorders to get people well and prevent suicides. The organization provides education, outreach, and advocacy to support families. Families for Depression Awareness is made up of families who have lost a family member to suicide or have watched a loved one suffer with depression, with little knowledge about how to help.
This information was brought to you by Cision http://www.cisionwire.com
http://www.cisionwire.com/families-for-depression-awareness/r/patient-stories-personalize-the-budget-cuts-and-the-impact-on-access-to-mental-health-care,c9183722
The following files are available for download:
| wkr0005.pdf |