Understanding and Discussing the Mind-Body Connection Aids in the Diagnosis and Management of Depression (1)

PARIS, October 19 /PRNewswire/ --

-- With Photo

-- Experts call for doctors and people with depression to break the silence

Eight in ten doctors (84 percent) say their colleagues need to be educated on the mind-body link while nearly two-thirds (63 percent) are concerned about misdiagnosing depressed patients with a pain condition due to possible confusion around the link that experts agree exists between the mind and the body,(1) according to the results of a survey presented today at the European regional meeting of the World Organisation of Family Doctors (WONCA).

Findings from the Mind-Body Connection Survey suggest that understanding and discussing this mind-body connection can play a vital role in improving diagnosis and the management of depression for the estimated 121 million people worldwide who suffer from the condition.(2)

Depression and pain have been shown to share biological pathways and chemicals, known as neurotransmitters,(3) within the central nervous system that are involved in the transmission, regulation and perception of both emotions and pain.(4)

"These results underline the importance of understanding the mind-body connection," commented Dr. Gabriel Ivbijaro, Chairman of the WONCA Working Party on Mental Health, which co-commissioned the survey with the World Federation for Mental Health (WFMH). "Treatment of depression should address the full range of emotional and painful physical symptoms in order to achieve remission and reduce the chance of relapse. We call on doctors to probe their patients for these symptoms and therefore help people to break their silence," Dr. Ivbijaro urged.

Impact of Physician-Initiated Dialogue on Patient Diagnosis

An overwhelming majority of general practitioners or GPs (85 percent) believe understanding the mind-body connection helps doctors reach diagnosis more quickly. However, far fewer GPs (70 percent) are currently probing for painful physical symptoms as part of their depression diagnosis. Interestingly, more GPs are likely to probe for these symptoms if they have a deeper understanding of the mind-body connection (82 percent of those who understand the connection compared to 54 percent of those who do not).

Impact of Physician-Initiated Dialogue on Depression Management and Recovery

The survey showed that patients whose doctors initiated a discussion about the emotional and the physical symptoms of depression saw a positive impact on depression management and recovery. Nearly nine out of 10 physicians (82 percent) believe that treating painful physical symptoms is important in achieving remission, the accepted goal of depression treatment.

Additionally those people with depression who had discussed the link with their physician:

    
    -- understood how their treatment would work to relieve their symptoms
       (82 percent of those who discussed the mind-body connection with their
       physician understood how their treatment would work, while just
       67 percent of those who did not discuss the link with their physicians
       understood their treatment); and
    -- believed that treating both physical and emotional symptoms would help
       them to recover more quickly (81 percent of those who discussed the
       mind-body connection with their physician believe it is important to
       treat both physical and emotional symptoms, while just 64 percent of
       those who did not discuss the connection with their physicians
       believed in the importance of treating these symptoms)(1)

Positive Impact of Understanding the Mind-Body Connection

For people with depression, their understanding of the link was also shown to play a positive role in the management of their condition. Those who expressed a deeper understanding of the mind-body connection:

    
    -- waited a full one year less before discussing their symptoms with
       their GP as compared with those who did not express such understanding
       (those who understood the mind-body connection waited 90 weeks and
       those who did not understand it waited 148 weeks);
    -- were more likely to have a discussion about the connection with their
       GP (73 percent of those who understood the mind-body connection
       discussed the connection with their GP but only 53 percent of those
       who did not understand the connection discussed it with their GP); and
    -- were more likely to believe that treating both emotional and pain
       symptoms would help them recover more quickly (91 percent of those who
       understood the mind-body connection believed that treating both
       emotional and pain symptoms would help them recover more quickly,
       while only 61 percent of those who did not understood the mind-body,
       believed this)(2)

Preston Garrison, Secretary General and CEO of the WFMH and co-commissioner of the Mind-Body Connection Survey commented, "The WHO estimates that depression will rank second only to heart disease by 2020 in terms of global disability , so we urgently call on groups representing people with depression to embrace the mind-body connection and encourage others to break the silence and reduce needless suffering."

Based on the survey findings, WONCA and WFMH are planning to provide GPs with an educational program to increase awareness of the mind-body link and its role in the management and treatment of depression in the hope of improving diagnosis, treatment and recovery rates.

The Mind-Body Connection Survey is part of the WFMH's Breaking Through Barriers depression awareness campaign, a public education initiative designed to improve the worldwide standard of care in depression. The campaign is co-sponsored by Eli Lilly and Company and Boehringer Ingelheim and the survey was commissioned by the WFMH and WONCA in collaboration with Eli Lilly and Company and Boehringer Ingelheim.

NOTES TO THE EDITOR

Mind-Body Connection Survey -- Methodology

These surveys were conducted online within France, Germany, Mexico, Brazil, and Australia by Harris Interactive on behalf of WONCA and WFMH between July 12, 2007 and August 20, 2007.

A total of 252 adults (aged 18 and over) who have received at least one prescription treatment for depression in the past year and are treated by a physician were surveyed. Harris also surveyed 501 GPs who are actively practicing and who see a minimum of five patients for depression per month, with at least three and no more than 20 years experience in the field.

With samples of this size, one could say with a 95 percent probability that the overall results would have a sampling error of plus or minus 6 percentage points for the consumer portion and 4.38 percentage points for the physician portion of the study. Sampling error for data based on sub-samples would be higher and would vary. Analyses of all sub-sample comparison included in this backgrounder are statistically significant at a 95 percent confidence level.

Survey Sub-Groups

People who deeply understood or did not understand the mind-body connection were defined as follows:

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