Health hw

So can treating depression prevent disease? No, but it can surely help reduce its likelihood. Given that, many experts hope that physicians will begin to make mental-health assessments a routine part of annual checkups. But that’s been proposed before and it hasn’t come easily. “When you only have roughly eight minutes with your primary doctor,” says Lydia Lewis, president of the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance, “it’s kind of hard to get into the realm of depression. And when you go to see a specialist, the cardiologist is thinking just about your heart.”

So while researchers hold conferences, conduct studies and write scholarly papers, Lewis has some more immediate advice for patients looking to enlist whatever tools are available to help them stay well. “We need to get people to go in and ask these questions of their physicians,” she says. Bill Valvo, who learned this lesson more powerfully than most, could not agree more. “I think people are totally unaware of what’s going on,” he says, “and I’m convinced that education is a key part of what we need to be doing.” The essence of that education: cure the mind, and you might just help save the body.

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