Percentage Of People With Depression

What Are The Different Types Of Depression

Major depression is the classic type of depression and whats diagnosed, or labeled, as MDD . People with major depression have symptoms of depression most of the day, nearly every day, for episodes of at least two weeks and can experience recurrent episodes throughout their lives. Under MDD, you can further break down depression into several specific subtypes:

Rates In Children And Adolescents

Depression can begin during childhood or during the teenage years. Similar to the prevalence rates in adults, girls are more likely to experience depression than boys. Theres a sharp increase in depression in girls just after puberty.

Although there has been a rise in teenage depression, according to a 2016 American Academy of Pediatrics study, there has not been a corresponding increase in treatment for teenagers.

The American Academy of Pediatrics now recommends regular depression screening for all adolescents 12 and over, given that the symptoms of depression are often missed by adults such as parents, teachers, and even doctors.

Here are the most recent depression statistics in children and adolescents:

• 3.1 million young people between the ages of 12 and 17 have experienced at least one major depressive episode in the past year in the United States.
• 2% to 3% of children ages 6 to 12 may have serious depression.
• 20% of adolescent girls have experienced a major depressive episode.
• 6.8% of adolescent boys have experienced a major depressive episode.
• 71% of adolescents who experienced a major depressive episode in the past year experienced a severe impairment.
• 60% of children and adolescents with depression are not getting any type of treatment.
• 19% of children with depression saw a health care professional for treatment.

How Is Depression Diagnosed

These days, a routine doctors visit with your general health practitioner may be all it takes to receive a diagnosis. Standard screening tools like the Patient Health Questionnaire a survey of yes, nine items, that physicians use to assess the severity of depressionare becoming widely used in primary care settings to screen for the condition.

In fact, most patients with depression are going to be diagnosed and treated by primary care doctors, not specialists or psychiatrists, says James Murrough, M.D., Ph.D., Director of the Depression and Anxiety Center for Discovery and Treatment at Mount Sinai.

Depression is mainly diagnosed by history and clinical presentations, or a specific pattern of symptoms, says Dr. Murrough, which is to say theres no blood test for MDD. But if you have symptoms like changes in sleep or appetite, your doctor may look into other conditions unrelated to mental health .

The first thing your doctor might do is order blood testsnot to make the diagnosis of depression, but to rule out things that could be masquerading as depression, explains Dr. Murrough. For example, an underactive thyroid can present as low mood and feeling sluggish, and iron deficiency anemia is another reason why some people might have low energy.

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Economic Impact Of Depression

• Depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide and is a major contributor to the overall global burden of disease.
• Neuropsychiatric disorders are the leading cause of disability in the U.S. with major depressive disorder being the most common
• Mental Health is the second leading workplace concern, following only family issues.

• Depression contributes to the estimated $100 billion annual cost of depression for U.S. employers, including $44 billion a year in lost productivity alone.

Depression Rates Around The World

Depression affects about 1 in 15 adults in any given year, and 1 in 6 people will experience depression at some time in their life. An Our World In Data study estimates about 3.4% of the global population has depression. This is about 264 million people worldwide.

According to WHO estimates, the ten countries with the highest prevalence of depression are:

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What Foods Help Ease Depression

While no specific diet has been proven to relieve depression, a healthy diet can help you feel your best physically and mentally. Certain foods may be linked to brain health and support for memory, alertness, and mood. Examples include foods that contain omega-3 fatty acids , antioxidants , and nutrients like choline . Always talk with your doctor before making any major diet changes.

How Can I Help Someone With Depression

Helping someone with depression might not look a single way. However, things that you can do to help include encouraging treatment, listening with compassion, helping the person suffering with daily tasks, be vigilant for signs of suicidal behavior, and to make sure you are caring for yourself, too.

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Depression Risk Factors For Women

According to the American Institute of Stress, the risk factors for depression among females include:

• Genetics
• Persistent hormonal changes that lead to depressive states
• Societal challenges such as unequal pay and unfair gender roles

Some races and employment types also have a higher prevalence of depression. White American adults comprised 70 percent of the 17.3 million who reported a major depressive episode. The next-highest figures by race were for Hispanic and Latino and Black .

Approximately 7.2 million Americans who identified as having full-time employment reported experiencing a major depressive episode. However, unemployed Americans had the highest rate of depression at 10.8 percent. The risk factors for depression among people who are unemployed or have part-time employment include having difficulties paying bills and uncertainty about their financial stability.

% Of The Worlds Adult Population Will Experience Depression

Each year, depression affects 6.7% of people. While this may not include the majority of the world population, this percentage is more than high enough for people to take notice. Considering the health-based consequences of depression, not to mention how it impacts life quality, its worth educating people on the symptoms and treatment options.

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What Are The Symptoms Of Depression

Each person is different and will have unique symptoms, but here are some of the more common symptoms of depression:

• Depressed mood
• Feelings of guilt, worthlessness, helplessness or hopelessness
• Loss of interest or pleasure in usually-enjoyed activities
• Change in weight or appetite
• Sleep disturbances

Depression Is Less Prevalent Compared To Anxiety Disorders

According to anxiety statistics, worldwide, its prevalence is very high. In other words, generalized anxiety disorder , panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder , phobia disorders, and post-traumatic stress disorder , along with other types of anxiety disorder, impact the lives of 284 million people.

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Top 10 Depression Statistics For 2021

• Major depressive disorder is the most frequently diagnosed depression type.
• The majority of people suffering from depression do not receive the right treatment.
• 1.9 million children are struggling with depression.
• Cannabis can reduce anxiety and depression symptoms.
• Both adoptive and biological parents can suffer from PPD.
• Antidepressants may increase suicide risk in teens.
• Men with depression are more likely to die by suicide than women.
• Anyone can become ill with depression.
• 50% of all mental disorders start by the age of 14.
• Young peoples suicide rates have escalated by 56%.

Try not to get depressed as you scroll down, but if you do, weve also got some recommendations on how to fight it.

Depression And Other Health Conditions

• It is estimated that depression is two to three times more common in people with a chronic physical health problem
• Nearly one-third of patients with major depressive disorder also have substance use disorders
• Research finds that 32-39% of people with anorexia nervosa, 36-50% of people with bulimia nervosa, and 33% of people with binge eating disorder are also diagnosed with major depressive disorder

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What Causes Mood Disorders

Mood disorders have no single cause, but several risk factors interact to produce the clinical symptoms of the various mood disorders. Individuals with depression and bipolar disorder often find a history of these disorders among immediate family members.Footnote 3 ,Footnote 4 Many different genes may act together and in combination with other factors to cause a mood disorder. Research is getting closer to identifying the specific genes that contribute to depression.

Approximately One In Eight Women Experience Postpartum Depression

Postpartum depression rates indicate that many women experience this specific type of depression. Usually, PPD lasts from a few weeks to a year. In more severe cases, it can last several years. Risk factors that might affect how long PPD lasts include breastfeeding difficulties, a history of mental illnesses, a lack of support from ones partner, etc.

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Fact: Young People And Older Adults Struggle With Depression Too

The average age of onset of depression is 32, but teens, seniors, and even children may develop and struggle with depression. The symptoms can vary, though, and children with depression are more likely to experience sadness and irritability, physical aches and pains, and weight loss. Children may also show signs of depression through their behaviors, such as refusing to go to school or being clingy and needy with parents or siblings.

Teens with depression experience many of the same symptoms as adults, but distinguishing them from normal teen angst can be difficult. Some signs that depression is the issue include drug or alcohol use, loss of interest in activities, self-harm, social withdrawal, poor school performance, and being excessively sensitive. In older adults, depression may cause physical pains, memory problems, personality changes, and social isolation.

• As many as one in eight adolescents have major depression.
• One in 33 children will struggle with depression.
• Untreated depression is the greatest risk factor for youth suicide.
• Those at the greatest risk for suicide are young men aged 15 to 24.
• Six million older Americans struggle with depression, but only 10 percent get treated.
• Elderly men are more likely than women to have suicidal thoughts.
• More than half of caretakers of elderly family members have symptoms of major depression.

About Half Of Women Diagnosed With Ppd Began Experiencing Symptoms During Pregnancy

While its common for women to have some symptoms of depression after giving birth, postpartum depression statistics confirm that PPD can be much more severe. A point often overlooked is that several reports and studies have found that these symptoms might appear earlier than we expectduring pregnancy.

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About 35% Of Adults Who Have Had A Major Depressive Episode Did Not Receive Treatment

An alarming number of adults who havent received treatment for depression may be explained the following way. First, those affected by depression may not want to report the disorder to healthcare professionals. Second, these people may be unaware of their condition. That said, US depression statistics also show that 65% of adults who have had a major depressive episode were tended to by a medical professional and received medication treatment.

The Disorder Is Most Common In Young Adults Aged 1825

Depression statistics for college students remark that young adults are very likely to experience depression. Namely, 10.9% of those aged 1825 experience it. Stress with school, financial problems, and moving away from friends and family do impact ones wellbeing and increase the likelihood of developing the disorder.

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Depression Risk Factors And Treatment Options

Risk factors for depression include:

• Biochemistry: Differences in chemicals in the brain
• Genetics: Depression can be hereditary
• Personality: Those who are generally pessimistic or have low self-esteem are more likely to experience depression
• Environment: those who are exposed to violence, abuse , neglect, or poverty are more likely to experience depression

For depression to be diagnosed, symptoms must last at least two weeks. Some medical conditions, such as thyroid problems or vitamin deficiencies, can mimic symptoms of depression and need to be ruled out.

Depression is one of the most treatable mental illnesses, and those who have been diagnosed have multiple options depending on their diagnosis:

• Anti-depressant medication may be prescribed to help correct and/or stablize ones brain chemistry.
• Psychotherapy and/or cognitive behavioral therapy are often used to help individuals work through depression. Therapy is often combined with anti-depressants for moderate to severe depression.
• Electroconvulsive therapy is a medical treatment most commonly used for patients diagnosed with severe depression who have not responded to other treatments. It involves a brief electrical stimulation of the brain while the patient is under anesthesia.

Statistical Methods And Measurement Caveats

Diagnostic Assessment:

Population:

• The entirety of NSDUH respondents for the major depressive episode estimates is the civilian, non-institutionalized population aged 12-17 and 18 years old or older residing within the United States.
• The survey covers residents of households and persons in non-institutional group quarters .
• The survey does not cover persons who, for the entire year, had no fixed address were on active military duty or who resided in institutional group quarters .
• Some adults and adolescents in these excluded categories may have had a major depressive episode in the past year, but they are not accounted for in the NSDUH major depressive episode estimates.
• Sex was recorded by the interviewer.

Interview Response and Completion:

• In 2019, 35.1% of the selected NSDUH sample did not complete the interview.
• Reasons for non-response to interviewing include: refusal to participate respondent unavailable or no one at home and other reasons such as physical/mental incompetence or language barriers .
• Adults and adolescents with major depressive episode may disproportionately fall into these non-response categories. While NSDUH weighting includes non-response adjustments to reduce bias, these adjustments may not fully account for differential non-response by mental illness status.

Please see the 2019 National Survey on Drug Use and Health Methodological Summary and Definitions report for further information on how these data were collected and calculated.

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Depression Rates By Country 2021

Depression, also known as major depressive disorder, is a mental health disorder that negatively affects how a person feels, thinks, and acts. The Global Health Data Exchange estimates that 251-310 million people worldwide suffer from depression. While depression is common, it is also, fortunately, treatable.

Rates Of Depression And Co

Depression often co-occurs with other conditions, such as psychological disorders or substance abuse and addiction. Anxiety and depression frequently co-occur due to shared symptoms and causes. According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, nearly half of the people diagnosed with depression also have an anxiety disorder.

Other conditions that frequently co-occur with depression include bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and specific personality disorders.

Depression also links to medical issues such as heart disease and stroke. Mental Health America lists noteworthy statistics involving depression as a co-occurring condition:

• Between 40 and 65 percent of people who had a heart attack also experienced depression
• Depression occurs for between 10 and 27 percent of people who survived a stroke
• Approximately 25 percent of people with cancer also have depression
• Around 1 in 3 people with depression also have a substance use disorder

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What Are The Challenges Of Measuring Depression

Content validity: We might want to know whether the questionnaires were measuring depression at all. How would we be sure of this?

We could first think about which emotions and behaviors we associate with depression sadness, tiredness, guilt, a loss of energy, and so on and we could make sure that the questionnaires ask about all of these emotions.

Criterion validity: We could also find out if peoples responses to the questions are correlated with other things we associate with depression.

For example, if someone is severely depressed, we might expect that they are also less sociable and that they perform poorly at work or school. We could test whether this is the case for people who scored high on a questionnaire for depression.

Discriminant validity: We could also test whether their responses are uncorrelated with things we dont associate with depression, such as their height or intelligence.

Internal consistency: Another important thing wed want to know is whether the questions were actually tapping into the same phenomenon.

Do all the questions measure depression or are some measuring other concepts instead? To test for this, we could look at how closely peoples answers to different questions align with each other.

One consequence of this focus is that scores shouldnt also measure other concepts.

Fortunately, there are straightforward ways to test this: we could measure how consistent different doctors were at diagnosing the same patients.

Fact: Depression Often Occurs With Other Health Conditions

It is not uncommon for someone with clinical depression to have another mental health condition or a physical health condition, or both. In some cases, an illness may trigger depression, while in others depression can lead to complications and other mental and physical health problems. Any kind of serious, severe, chronic, or terminal illness can lead a patient to develop depression. Some of the more common illnesses that trigger depression are cancer and any condition that causes chronic pain or disability, such as fibromyalgia or multiple sclerosis.

Commonly co-occurring mental health conditions include anxiety disorders, body dysmorphic disorder, eating disorders, and substance use disorders. It is not always possible to determine whether depression causes another condition, but it is possible, especially when depression goes untreated. For instance, depression can lead to substance use disorders, because some people use substances to self-medicate. With some health conditions, co-occurring depression affects many people:

• One quarter of cancer patients develops depression.
• One third of heart attack survivors will struggle with depression.
• Half of patients with Parkinsonâs disease experiences depression.
• Fifty to 75 percent of eating disorder patients will have episodes of depression.
• More than one quarter of people with substance use disorders experience depression.

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