Locally, Rogers Memorial Hospital brings science, success to treatment of mental illness

The Public Broadcasting Service’s Program “Depression: Out of the Shadows,” which aired nationally on May 22 on PBS affiliates, offered a compelling and honest look at one of the nation’s most common mental illnesses. The unusually frank look into the lives of depression sufferers is something that the clinical professionals at Rogers Memorial Hospital see almost every single day.

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, major depressive disorder affects approximately 14.8 million American adults, or about 6.7 percent of the U.S. population age 18 and older in a given year. Of the men, women, and children who suffer with depression every year, less than 20 percent seek treatment.

Fortunately, depression is a very treatable illness; as many as 90 percent of people who seek treatment for depression find relief. In 2004, Rogers Memorial published an outcome study that showed that adolescents in Rogers Memorial’s intensive residential treatment programs saw a reduction in their depression symptoms by a substantial amount.

With evidence-based treatments, medical and behavioral techniques, and psychological and pharmacological therapies at their disposal, Rogers Memorial has the science and the expertise to help people afflicted with depression, even severe and dramatic cases such as those portrayed in the PBS program.

A not-for-profit hospital, Rogers Memorial has been treating behavioral health since the organization opened in Oconomowoc, WI in 1907. Expanded now to four locations in southeastern Wisconsin, Rogers Memorial specializes in treating behavioral health symptoms like depression.

Local Resources for covering depression:

Rogers Memorial Hospital:

We have medical, psychological, and treatment professionals available for interviews and discussion on the topic of depression, including clinicians who practice both conventional and experiential therapeutic techniques. All media requests can be made to communications specialist Gabe Wollenburg.
Call (262) 646-1389, or send an email to gwollenburg@rogershospital.org.

Rogers Memorial also provides a Web page dedicated to understanding depression at it’s Web site. http://www.rogershospital.org/symptoms_depression.php

In Health Wisconsin

http://inhealthwi.org/

InHealth WI is a non-profit organization dedicated to creating insightful, interactive, and inspiring programs and training that build capacity within individuals and communities to transform health and well being.

Mental Health America of Wisconsin
http://www.mhamilw.org/

Information, advocacy, and community education about mental health and mental illness, including an onsite resource center and Web site; referrals for mental health care; information about prevention; a speakers bureau; a Business Outreach program which offers presentations and resources on workplace mental health issues; support groups; free depression and anxiety screening; and the Invisible Children’s Program, a support program for families where a parent has a mental illness.

Mental Health Association in Waukesha County

http://www.mhawauk.org/

The Mental Health Association in Waukesha County, Inc. is a nonprofit organization that serves the community by promoting mental health. Since 1963, MHA volunteers and staff have helped people cope with emotional problems and worked to improve treatment for people experiencing a mental illness.

Rogers Memorial Hospital is a nonprofit behavioral healthcare provider for children, adolescents, adults and older adults. The hospital is nationally recognized for its residential treatment centers including the Eating Disorder Center, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Center, The Child Center and the Child and Adolescent Center. Rogers Memorial also provides residential treatment services for chemical dependency and co-occurring OCD and other anxiety disorders. Inpatient and partial hospitalization services are also available. Rogers Memorial is licensed as a psychiatric hospital by the State of Wisconsin and accredited by the Joint Commission. It offers treatment programs at four Wisconsin locations: Oconomowoc, Milwaukee, Kenosha and Brown Deer. To learn more, please call (800) 767-4411 or visit us online at www.rogershospital.org.