As reported by Reuters, a white paper recently released by New York City’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene revealed that “at least one in five adult New Yorkers suffer from depression, substance abuse, suicidal thoughts or other psychological disorders every year.”
By the end of the month, the department expects to release a plan, known as NYC Thrive, aimed at preventing and treating psychological disorders among the city’s residents.
“We have a set of public health issues that affect many people and affect them very deeply,” said Dr. Gary Belkin, a deputy commissioner of the health department. “We know what we’re going to be doing, and over the coming weeks you’re going to be hearing about it.”
No concrete details have yet been released regarding the cost and scope of NYC Thrive; however, one of the known goals of the said project is to establish a more comprehensive system to track mental health in children and adults.
According to Reuters, “Some 8 percent of adults in New York City experience symptoms of depression each year.” Furthermore, the same percentage of high school students in the city have also attempted suicide.
Reuters further notes that:
“Poor and minority residents are disproportionately affected by mental illnesses and are more likely than white residents to be misdiagnosed or untreated, according to the report.
“The number of residents experiencing psychological disorders such as depression has held steady in recent years, [the report] finds. But mental health problems arising from drug and alcohol abuse have risen.”
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