 At Audiology Associates of Prestonsburg you can live your life the way you want and find the freedom of better hearing with 40 years of being in the hearing care industry you'll experience patient care that is specific to you with exceptional follow-up care that ensures your hearing and balance needs are being met. Audiology Associates at 1428 Northlake Drive in Prestonsburg. October is National Depression and Mental Health Screening Month which works to destigmatize issues surrounding depression and other mental health disorders. We spoke to Cheryl Colm's Walker, a licensed clinical social worker on the importance of raising awareness about these issues. Depression typically affects about one in six adults according to some studies and that's experiencing depression at some point in life. This is not talking all at the same time or in a certain year but just at some point in life one in six adults will experience enough symptoms of depression to meet the criteria for the diagnosis so that's fairly common and that being said that means that if we are stigmatizing a condition such as depression that happens this commonly or that is this prevalent within society then the likelihood of those we may prevent at least a some portion of those from actually seeking the help or treatment that they need or they may wait until the symptoms are quite severe which can be very dangerous before they actually seek it. Symptoms of depression include persistent sadness, feelings of guilt, irritability, decreased energy and feeling hopeless. If you're experiencing these symptoms there are several ways to reach out for help. Well you can start with reaching out to your primary care physician that's usually line one of defense most people will reach out to their primary care doctor first and primary care doctors or physicians are typically pretty well trained at recognizing the signs and symptoms and a lot of clinics automatically do depression screenings pretty consistently in current day, current time and so they may recognize those symptoms pretty early so you can reach out to your primary care provider. You can if you feel comfortable or confident in doing so you can use a search engine on the internet and look up local mental health resources, local mental health treatment providers, psychiatrists, therapists, you can ask friends or family members if they have any suggestions or recommendations so those would be good places to start. For more information or to schedule an appointment call Big Sandy Healthcare at 606-886-8546 reporting for Mountain Top News I'm Brianna Robinson.