Strangely the same group, who received Ritalin, receives fewer medications for Depression than those who did not receive Ritalin. We know that children brought up in social stress and with a poor family support system are more prone to mental illness. We know that schizophrenia has genetic loading. We know that certain behavior traits in childhood are prone to develop psychoses. We have a good idea who is prone to develop Schizophrenia. We know what the prodromal signs occur before the first psychotic breakdown. Psychotic breakdowns do not occur overnight. They are festering for weeks before the break. More distressingly we can prevent a psychotic breakdown if we intervene at the right time. Yet we do nothing.
We know that not everyone will develop depression or anxiety. The family doctor is never surprised when one of his patients does develop theses illnesses. We know who is going to develop the illnesses. He or she is typically of two types. They are either the rigid worrier or the very dependent personality. They have in common a defect. Their coping style is inadequate. We can readily and easily correct this defect. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, CBT, can improve coping. Over forty percent of people feel that they want to improve the way that they cope. By doing so they would prevent depression and anxiety and improve significantly their quality of life.
It would seem that mental health should re-align itself with the rest of medicine. We can reasonably hope that prevention and early intervention in mental health issues will become as important as they are in the other fields of medicine.
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