Janssen celebrates World Mental Health Day to raise awareness on the importance of timely diagnosis and treatment

To commemorate the World Mental Health Day, Janssen, Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson and with a 60+ year legacy in the field of neurosciences, joins the initiative to talk about mental disorders that have a high burden for people who suffer from them.  

Depression is a chronic, relapsing illness that affects an estimated 300 million people worldwide, according to the World Psychiatric Association Commission. The commission describes depression as "one of the world's leading causes of preventable suffering and premature mortality" and labels it a neglected global health crisis. Although it is a treatable disease, six out of every 10 people suffering from it in Latin America and the Caribbean do not seek or do not receive the treatment they need. The social, emotional and economic impact of patients with depression can affect the development of a fulfilling life, as it is the leading cause of disability worldwide.

It is also responsible for low performance in areas such as study or work, generating an economic burden due to the lack of productivity of the sufferer. In more advanced cases, depression can lead to suicide. It is estimated that, annually, there are 800,000 cases of suicide worldwide, of which 63,000 are committed in the Americas.

It is important to learn to identify warning signs that indicate possible mental disorders such as sadness, agitation, restlessness, irritability and anger. Loss of interest or pleasure in activities once enjoyed, sudden change in appetite, often with weight gain or loss, thoughts of death or suicide, difficulty concentrating and falling asleep may also occur. The presence of each of these symptoms is enough to affect the functional life of the patient as a whole.

People who have already been diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder should be attentive to the residual symptoms of depression which, although they can occur in the natural history of the disease, can also be associated as a product of the lack of more specific therapeutic approaches for each type of depression. Proof of the above is that one in three cases of depression do not respond to two treatments or more, according to the indications provided by a health professional; these cases are known as Treatment Resistant Depression. Given this recognized clinical variability, there is an area of opportunity around therapeutic orientation according to risk-benefit criteria for each patient, maximizing effectiveness and adherence to treatment. 

There are currently pharmacological and psychological treatments that are effective in treating depression, although it is estimated that more than half of the affected people in the world do not receive them, sometimes due to the influence of the stigma generated by mental disorders or due to an inaccurate assessment or a wrong diagnosis.