The Maine Association for Psychiatric Physicians has two ongoing community projects.
ThePostpartum Depression Project was developed with the support of a grant from the American Psychiatric Association in recognition of the frequency, under diagnosis and under treatment of postpartum depression and the long term serious adverse effects of untreated maternal depression on women and their children. Postpartum depression is the most common complication of childbirth and affects approximately 15% of mothers. The focus of the PPD Project is to provide training programs across medical and mental health specialties and easy access to educational materials to aid in the screening, assessment, and treatment of women who experience depression during pregnancy or the postpartum period. The PPD project also produces a newsletter which is available on this website.
Maine is a predominantly rural state, with a population of 1.2 million. The majority of the state’s 300 psychiatrists are geographically concentrated in the lower quarter of the state, leaving family practitioners and other primary care providers throughout the state without ready access to psychiatric consultation. The Maine Association of Psychiatric Physicians has addressed this problem with an innovative program calledThe Consultation Project. Funded through a contract with DHHS, this program links volunteer psychiatrists with primary care practices throughout the state.