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One-in-five US citizens suffers from mental health disorder WASHINGTON, (AFP)- One in five Americans suffers from a mental health disorder, but health services are suffering from shortages of key specialists, according to a report by US Surgeon General David Satcher Monday. In the United States, as in other industrialized nations, major depression is the leading cause of disability, the report noted. Manic depression, schizophrenia, and obsessive compulsive disorder also rank among the 10 leading causes of disability for people over the age of five. And about 15 percent of adults use some form of mental health service in any year, it said. Focusing on the benefits of community-based services, the report also highlighted the importance of continuity of providers and culturally sensitive treatment of the mentally sick. But it noted that there are "key personnel shortages," especially among mental health professionals serving children, adolescents, and the elderly. The report noted that suicide perennially represents one of the leading preventable causes of death in the United States.
Contrary to popular misconceptions, a range of effective treatments exist for mental health problems. The stigma surrounding such problems needs to be eliminated if more people are to be encouraged to acknowledge their problems and seek treatment, the report said.
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