- With Mayo Clinic psychiatrist
David Mrazek, M.D.
read biographyclose windowBiography of
David Mrazek, M.D.
David Mrazek, M.D.
Dr. David A. Mrazek is chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Psychology at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn., and a professor of psychiatry at College of Medicine, Mayo Clinic. Dr. Mrazek has developed a federally funded psychiatric pharmacogenomics research program and implemented clinical psychiatric pharmacogenomics services at Mayo Clinic.
He has received numerous awards including the Award for Creativity in Psychiatric Education from the American College of Psychiatrists and the Agnes Purcell McGavin Award for Distinguished Career Achievement in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry from the American Psychiatric Association. He currently serves as chairman of the board of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology.
Dr. Mrazek has focused his current efforts on using pharmacogenomics testing to improve clinical care. One of his specific goals is to decrease the risks of taking psychiatric medications.
Latest entries
- Complexity of depression diagnosis makes treatment difficult
March 8, 2012
- Depression sometimes shifts to bipolar disorder
Jan. 21, 2012
- Antidepressant use soaring among Americans 12 and over
Dec. 7, 2011
- Transcranial magnetic stimulation offers hope treating depression
Oct. 19, 2011
- New antidepressant offers hope
Sept. 3, 2011
About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Depression blog
-
Aug. 19, 2009
Mental illness stigma lessening
By David Mrazek, M.D.
Recent studies show the general public accepts the use of antidepressants more now than in the past. This could mean there's less of a stigma toward mental illness now. In addition, most antidepressants are being prescribed by general practitioners and family practice doctors.
| Need more help? |
|
One reason could be financial. For instance, insurance coverage costs may be lower (lower co-pays etc.) when someone is seen by a primary care provider vs. a specialty physician like a psychiatrist. Also, it's often easier to access a primary care provider than a mental health provider.
We as health care professionals do our best to reduce stigma. We want you to know we advocate for you. We feel there's less stigma now, but we have a ways to go. Share with the group if you think stigma toward depression and other mental health disorders has decreased in recent years.
82 comments posted
August 26, 2009 6:12 a.m.
In 35 years as a mental health clinician, now retired, I've seen the cause of mental illnesses shift from personal and social to biological and medical ones. Schizophrenia was blamed on the "schizophrenigenic' mother, and depression on weakness and inadequacy. Now chemical imbalance and genetics are responsible and personal blame and stigma are far less.
- Mike
August 25, 2009 2:30 p.m.
I have been on anti-depressants since 1991 or before, and have never felt stigmatized. It is a disease just like any other, and has treatment protocols like any other. The pharmaceutical and medical communities have developed new, and better medications which help to manage the problems, and for that I am grateful. I have just had a major depressive episode, changed medications, and I am much better and not thinking thoughts of suicide, not beating myself up, and getting back into life as I know it. The only stigma I face is trying to improve my work situation now that I am over 60. Now there is stigma...illegal, but active.
- bcw
August 19, 2009 10:20 p.m.
Interesting article, Doctor. The diminishing of the mental health stigma is not a thing that merely statistics of prescriptions can show, though. It is a wider social issue that must be dealt with in a social manner. Awareness and education gives much hope to those silent sufferers; it is not merely the removal of the stigma, but an acceptance and a lifeline that they are not sufferering alone. Antidepressants may help, but the therapeutic effects of a great support team, family, friends, and an accepting society speaks for more than pictures and words can show.
- Bobby
August 19, 2009 5:50 p.m.
I remember when my grandmother wouldn't even mention cancer. In her world there was a stigma against any kind of illness except the communicable ones like chicken pox. How can we expect our illness to be accepted,
- ak
August 19, 2009 1:36 p.m.
Better yet, why not push for more research to cure mental illness altogether? It's the professionals in the field who have the power and the contacts. Where are those lobbyists and why aren't they breaking down the doors of Congress? I would say it's the pharmaceutical companies fear of losing billions of dollars that is getting in the way.
- jbm
August 19, 2009 1:29 p.m.
Read more of your blogs Dr. and you'll see the stigma is still there, especially in the workplace. Read how many people are being discriminated against and as a result losing their jobs! Highly trained nurses among others. Why not get your colleagues together and work to write up legislation to protect those of us affected by these heinous practices? You know just as well as these corporations do how difficult it is for those with mental illness to deal with this kind of treatment on the job. Exhaustion and feeling overwhelmed is what they corporations count on to keep people at bay. Why not provide a list of lawyers, pro bono if needed for those who can't afford it, and other trusted legal info on your site.
- Kathie
August 19, 2009 1:11 p.m.
Wishful thinking, people show a lot more compassion to a person with cancer (to lessen the blow - non-life threatening) than they do to a mental illness person. The cancer patient can go to the doctor, take meds without feeling ashamed unlike the mental illness person. People still think that we can just snap out of it. If we react or say something that seems out of place in a situation they attribute it to the mental illness not our true reaction. They tend to stay away from us and not bother us incase we go crazy on them. Why don't people list mental illness/depression as the reason for death in the paper when people commit suicide like they do cancer or heart disease? Because society frowns on it -- they can't believe that life could be so bad for that person.
- DAO
Share on:
82 comments posted