Mandatory Depression Screening for Stroke Patients

Interviewing Stroke patients for my final project, I realized just how common post-stroke depression is and how it's oftentimes neglected. After asking a 17-year-old stroke patient named Usman if he developed depression after his stroke he said, "how could I not, I had lost everything". Unfortunately, Usman was not treated for his depression and it was never addressed. Usman had to suffer in silence. 1 in 3 stroke survivors will develop clinical depression and stroke survivors are more than twice as likely to attempt suicide. By making it hospital policy to screen stroke patients for depression as they have a heightened risk of developing it we can help avoid Usman's story from repeating.