Depression affects more than 400,000 (8%) of adult New Yorkers each year.
Mind Your Health Conference
In November of 2005, the NYC Health Department held a conference entitled "Mind Your Health: Expanding the Vision of Mental Health and Recovery". The goal of the conference was to educate people affected by mental health issues and mental health providers about the disproportionate physical health risks faced by people in need of mental health care. The conference objectives were to empower people who have mental health issues to take greater control of their health, educate consumers and providers about steps to integrate primary health care into mental health programs and link consumers to health care services in the community.
People with serious mental illnesses generally have poor physical health, a significantly shorter life expectancy than the general population and have undiagnosed and untreated health problems. The nature of mental illness often causes individuals to neglect their health due to poverty, social withdrawal and apathy. This conference aimed to help eliminate the barriers and obstacles to the integration of physical and behavioral health for this high-risk population. This conference was made possible by private funds donated to the Fund for Public Health in New York (FPHNY).