Frequent Mental Distress (“FMD”) is defined as having 14 or more days in the previous month when stress, depression and emotional problems are a problem. FMD is common in United States. However, certain geographic areas of the country have consistently high or consistently low FMD incidence, as reported in a study published in the June 2009 issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
Kentucky has the highest rate of FMD in the entire United States of America. Combining data from annual large-scale surveys in 1993-2001 and 2003-2006 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, researchers found that 14.4 percent of the adult population in Kentucky suffers from FMD.
The state-based Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) has asked questions about mental health since 1993 and collects data from random telephone surveys of adult residents across the U.S. More than 1.2 million people were surveyed in each of the two periods. FMD prevalence was determined by county, and the results were smoothed to reduce variation from random sampling due to small sample sizes in less populous counties.
So, FMD is a major problem in Kentucky and one that may not be helped or even diagnosed by current medical care providers in the Commonwealth.
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