Oct. 22, 2004 – A new international study found that most people suffering from depression refuse treatment not because of social stigma, but simply because it costs too much.
The study, published in the American Journal of Psychiatry, found that about 38 percent of American respondents cited out-of-pocket expenses as the main reason for declining treatment.
"A lot of people think of stigma as being a big barrier" to depression treatment, Dr. Gregory E. Simon, a researcher with Puget Sound's Group Health Cooperative in Seattle told Reuters. However, he said, the cost of being treated for depression "may be a much more important issue than stigma."
