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SUNY Upstate opens region's first Anxiety and Depressive Disorders Clinic

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - SUNY Upstate Medical University will open the Anxiety and Depressive Disorders Clinic program in September. The program will be the area's first adult one of its kind to offer clinics specializing in treating anxiety, depression, a combination of anxiety and depression, post-partum depression and treatment-resistant depression. Clinics will be located on the first floor of 713 Harrison Street, Syracuse and will be open Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The program is available through SUNY Upstate's Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences.

According to Thomas Schwartz, M.D., assistant professor of psychiatry who will direct the clinic programs, between 10 to 20 percent of the local population may suffer from anxiety or depression. Yet the community has lacked a formal dedicated program designed specifically to treat each of these conditions in a high-tech and comprehensive manner. "Our clinics should meet this community need," said Schwartz. "There is no other current program in the region that operates in this fashion."

Each clinic will offer an innovative method of treatment by combining clinical, evidence-based, and research standards, unlike other approaches that offer clinical care solely. "From time to time, our clinics will engage in research studies with new medications, psychotherapies and other treatment options," said Schwartz. "Our patients will be informed of the studies and will have the opportunity to participate, if they choose."

The Syracuse clinic will be the first in the area to offer Vagus Nerve Stimulation (VNS) for the treatment of chronic depression. SUNY Upstate was a test site for this pacemaker-like device, which has since been approved by the FDA as a treatment option. According to Schwartz, physicians, nurses and other health care providers from SUNY Upstate will provide the medical/psychiatric care.

"Our patients will be involved in all treatment decisions based on their understanding of our treatment modules that will be very specific interventions geared to alleviate depressive symptoms," he said. "This way, our providers and their patients work collaboratively to develop a more personalized treatment method with the goal of improving anxiety and/or depressive symptoms. Our ultimate goal is for the patient to achieve full remission of symptoms."

Patients will choose from a variety of treatment modules including psychotherapies, such as dynamic, cognitive behavioral, supportive or eclectic, used solely, or in combination with medications.

For more information about SUNY Upstate Medical University's Anxiety and Depressive Disorders Clinic Program, call 315-464-3165.

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