How Common is Depression?
Depression is remarkably common. In fact, depression is often called "the common cold of mental health problems." More than 5 percent of Americans--some 15 million people--suffer clinical depression at any given moment. Another 5 percent experience mild symptoms of being "down in the dumps." At least one person in six experiences a serious, or "major" depressive episode at some point in life. The average age at diagnosis of depression is slowly dropping, and though depression among the elderly remains common, depression in young people is on the rise.
Authorities estimate that depression costs the nation $43 billion a year for medications, professional care, and lost school and workdays. The toll in human misery is incalculable. The dark cloud of depression has an even darker lining--thoughts of suicide. Each year, tens of thousands of depressed people attempt suicide. About 16,000 succeed. Suicide is now a leading cause of death among teens and young adults.
The myth is that people with depression cannot function. In fact, 72 percent of depressed individuals are in the workforce. Some are taking medication or are in some other form of treatment. Many simply carry on despite their deep emotional pain.
Many famous people have struggled with clinical depression, among them: President Abraham Lincoln, talk show host Dick Cavett, journalist Mike Wallace, comedian Rodney Dangerfield, poet Sylvia Plath, statesman Winston Churchill, artist Georgia O'Keefe, actor Rod Steiger, and writers William Styron, Virginia Woolf, Ernest Hemingway, and Mark Twain.
Woman's World Source:
Depression.com