More US adults getting treated for depression

Gabrielle Masson -

The number of U.S. adults with depression receiving treatment jumped 9 percentage points within a decade, according to a new study published in JAMA Psychiatry. 

Researchers analyzed U.S. health survey data from 2007-16 and found depression rates among adults relatively unchanged, STAT reports. However, nearly 53 percent of respondents said they received treatment during 2015-16, compared to 44 percent a decade earlier. People with depression seeing a mental health specialist or receiving some medication rose from 51 percent in 2007 to 60 percent in 2016.

The study didn't examine the relation between changes in insurance status and accessing treatment, but the authors suggest that expansion of mental health services under the ACA in 2014 could explain the findings.

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