What Are the Risks of Untreated Depression? (1:46)
Untreated depression can put people at high risk for other health conditions like heart disease and can prevent them from functioning at their optimum. In this video, Tarique Perera, MD, a psychiatrist with Contemporary Care of Connecticut, explains.
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There are several risks at many levels, so one is from a medical stand point, so people with untreated depression are at a higher risk obviously for infectious disease, cardiovascular problems, medical problems. There's also some evidence although I'm not an expert in risks of things like cancer e.t.c.
Then there are in terms of function people who are depressed obviously do function below their potential and never really achieve their goals economically or in terms of their careers, depression has a ripple effect. So there's a chance that it can affect people around them, I mean we treated somebody covered with PMS, somebody who had cardio history, depression felt completely better but his wife and his daughter who were also depressed got better suggesting that some of that depression was the consequence of a close person having depression.
So there is obviously the medical risks, lots of kinds of work and economic potential, the risk it has in terms of spreading to other people, and then of course from medical standpoint the big risk that we all focus on is the risk of suicide, or homicide, and homicide and suicide which is a bigger risk and we appreciate..
Tarique Perera, MD, founded Contemporary Care of Connecticut, which specializes in Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation. His TMS practice has become one of the busiest in the country and has locations in Greenwich, CT and Darien, CT.
