Our World in Data, 2018

Mental health statistics in the U.S.

(SAMHSA, 2018)

Source:
https://www.singlecare.com/blog/news/mental-health-statistics/#us-mental-health-stats

Source:
https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/adult.html#:~:text=The%20US%20obesity%20prevalence%20was,from%204.7%25%20to%209.2%25.&text=The%20estimated%20annual%20medical%20cost,was%20%24147%20billion%20in%202008.

One of the most common reasons for people to not seek treatment is concern about stigma. In the psychotherapy literature, stigma has generally referred to the public stigma of having a mental illness, with the clearest example being schizophrenia. Public stigma is society’s rejection of a person due to certain behaviours or physical appearances that are deemed unacceptable, dangerous or frightening. Although in most industrialised societies today the mentally ill are no longer overtly persecuted, there are clear indications of the presence of public stigma towards individuals with a mental illness. These perceptions of the mentally ill are not lost on those needing treatment and can lead to the hiding of mental health concerns and avoidance of treatment in an attempt to reduce the negative consequences associated with stigma (Corrigan, 2004).

But what other forms of stigma might prevent people from seeking psychological services, and what can be done about them?

Public stigma over help-seeking
The public stigma attached to having  a mental illness is not the only type of stigma that inhibits the decision to seek therapy. There is also a public stigma associated with seeking professional services, separate from the public stigma associated with mental illness. With this stigma, what one suffers from is less important than the simple behaviour of seeking psychological help, whether that is for a chronic, diagnosable mental disorder or for processing the death of  a loved one. Simply seeking professional psychological help appears to carry its own mark of disgrace. Research indicates that people tend to stigmatise clients more than they stigmatise non-clients.

In scenario-based research, individuals described as depressed and having sought help were rated more emotionally unstable, less interesting, and less confident than those described as depressed and not seeking help (Ben-Porath, 2002). In addition, those who have sought help are more likely to report being stigmatised by others than those who have not (Jorm & Wright, 2008).

Filipino culture encourages coping through social means. Even our language is devoid of nuances for various mental health conditions. And while such coping mechanisms cannot be discounted or done away with, there are instances or cases that require formal treatment depending on the condition.

Although researchers don’t have an exact answer as to why some people are more prone to depression than others, there's likely more than one causative factor. Research has implicated everything from physical and chemical differences in the brain to social and environmental risk factors.1

The complexity of depression is what makes it a challenging condition to diagnose and treat. Understanding what could make a person more likely to experience depression is the first step in developing prevention and treatment strategies tailored to reduce individual vulnerability to the condition.2 

Developing a more complete understanding of the various mechanisms that drive depression could also help researchers get better at predicting who will get depressed as well as predicting how the condition will present over time.3

With this information, mental health professionals would be better prepared to predict how a person might respond to antidepressants or other forms of therapeutic treatment. 

Depression can cause you to feel low-energy in many ways:

When depression takes away the fun activities and lowers your motivation, this creates a vicious cycle of depression. It can be hard to break, but breaking it is possible — especially using behavioral activation (which we’ll discuss below).

Again, getting a solid understanding of your own experience of depression fatigue is a great first step in managing it. Here’s a more in-depth look at the ways depression may be causing your fatigue:

Depression may be disrupting your sleeping patterns in some way. About 80%
Trusted Source of people with depression, for example, experience insomnia.

But it’s not just a lack of sleep that causes tiredness. Oversleeping, which is also a common symptom of depression, can cause similar feelings of fatigue over a period of time.

These kinds of sleep irregularities are among the biggest causes of fatigue in those who experience depression.

When you’re feeling depressed, you might have less of an appetite, skip meals, or have an overwhelming desire for sweet foods that have less nutritional value.

Large quantities of fat and sugar can make you feel groggy and tired.

Nutritious foods, like fruits, vegetables, and whole grains can provide healthy antioxidants and nutrients with energy-boosting effects — and these are the foods that we tend to put to aside when depression arises.

Exercise is a great source of energy, but feelings of depression might make it harder for you to want to work out on a regular basis. Depression can cause you to experience a lack of motivation in many aspects of life, and this can channel into a lack of desire to exercise.

But don’t think that this lack of exercise is because of laziness. This couldn’t be further from the truth!

Summoning the motivation to exercise is already hard enough. But feelings like reduced self-esteem and pessimism are specific depressive attitudes that research suggests may be interfering with your exercise.

It’s completely understandable that you might not be working out as much as you used to or would like to. Recognizing that these thought patterns are a result of depression means you’re better equipped to deal with the challenge of motivating yourself to exercise.

Keep in mind that depression can increase chronic stress, and stress can lead to depression. No matter which one occurred first, they’re closely related. Depression-linked stress can lead to a loss of energy and exhaustion.

An inability to manage stress can play a major role in developing and maintaining depression.

An overactive amygdala, which is the part of the brain associated with anxiety, stress, and fear, creates a cognitive (thinking) bias towards interpreting the world and the self negatively. These are feelings associated with depression.

Simply put, depression-related stress might be creating overactivity in your brain that’s making you feel drained.

Depression and Fatigue: Why It Happens and How to Cope | Psych Central