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Treatment of Depression by Mental Health Specialists and Primary Care Physicians
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| Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings. |
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To the Editor: In their nationally representative US survey, Dr Kessler and colleagues reported that of individuals who reported depression, 64.3% seen in the specialty mental health sector had received adequate care, but that only 41.9% of individuals seen in primary care had received care at this level.1 Although these percentages may seem to imply that the mental health sector provides better care for patients with depression,2 there are significant differences between patients with depression who seek care from their primary physicians vs those who are treated by mental health specialists. Patients with depression seen in the specialty mental health sector receive more care and would not be there if they did not accept that they needed such care. They also are probably more likely to adhere to treatment. The situation in primary care is different, where patients with depression typically present with somatic symptoms such as fatigue, may not . . . [Full Text of this Article]
Allen J. Dietrich, MD
Department of Community and Family Medicine
Thomas E. Oxman, MD
Department of Psychiatry Dartmouth Medical School Hanover, NH
John W. Williams, Jr, MD, MHS
Department of Medicine Duke University Medical School Durham, NC
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