Depression statistics

Antony Zimmer — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 08:34:47 +0000

World Health Organization (WHO) compares depression with epidemic outbreak spread in the whole world. Depression takes the lead among reasons for absence from work and is rated second among incapacitating illnesses. If relevant measures are not taken in time, by 2020 the depression would have paralyzed the economics of both developed and developing countries. Every year about 150 million people in the world become incapable of work because of depression. Because of it only the economics of the US suffers an estimated 50 million dollar loss annually. This amount includes the costs of 290 lost working days, psychotherapeutic aid and worsening of work quality. According to WHO`s forecast, by 2020 the depression would have taken the first place among all diseases leaving behind today`s leaders- infectious and cardiovascular diseases. Now depression is the most common disease among women. According to American Psychiatric Association presently in the US more than 15 million people suffer from depression. Other researches name even larger figures: more than 26% of women and 12% of men. In the USA depression is number two reason for sick leaves and number one reason in Sweden. In the US, Canada and most countries of Western Europe about 80% of antidepressants are prescribed by general practitioners, not psychiatrists. According to researches carried out in the US, people who are susceptible to depression are at twice the risk of dying of other diseases. Women have depression twice as frequent as men (20-26% against 8-12%). There is no such divergence in children with depression- it usually becomes apparent in adulthood. Actually, it is not that the stronger sex has better immune system, just men, unlike women, rarely resort to professional aid preferring to suppress depression symptoms by alcohol, medicines or diving into work. This fact has been confirmed by researches carried out among some religious concessions which prohibit using alcohol and medicines. Frequency of depression in men and women in these concessions were equal. Therewith there are types of depression which affect only women due to their physiological peculiarities (e.g. PMS, depression accompanying menopause, severe postnatal depression which affects every tenth woman). About 50% of all people suffering from depression never seek medical aid, and only 25-30% of the rest visit a psychiatrist. Unipolar depression is a leading reason for disability among children above 5 years old. Special researches showed that 60% of all patients seeking medical care have depression symptoms of various levels of severity. Meanwhile, the traditional medical methods used in clinics allow to detect depression only in 5% of depressive patients who turn there. Depression is diagnosed in 22-33% of hospitalized patients, in 38% of oncological patients, in 47% of stroke patients, in 45% of myocardial infarction patients and in 39% of Parkinson’s disease patients. Not long ago depression mostly developed in patients aged 30-40, presently the disease has “grown younger” dramatically, and now depression often affects young people below 25. Among those who was born before 1940, the number of people who had depression before the age of 25 makes up 2,5%. Among those born in 1940-1959 this figure makes up 10%. There is no data available for later dates; however, this growth tendency is kept on. In 2-3% of people development of depression does not depend on any external circumstances (endogenous depression), in the rest depression occurs as a reaction to stress (psychogenic depression). 45-60% of all suicides on the planet are committed by depressed patients. As predicted, in 2020 depression would become 1 “killer”. Depressed patients kill themselves 35 times more often than non-depressed ones. 50% of patients with endogenous depression and 20% with psychogenic depression try suicide. People with mild to moderate depression have ability to give more objective assessment of reality (it was even mentioned by Freud). Thus, in one research after half an hour of a shooting game the gamers were asked to name the number of monsters killed by them. People with depression named a figure maximally close to real. The ones who were not depressed exaggerated their results by 4-6 times. Other research showed that both depressed and non-depressed people answer equally well to abstract questions, but when it comes to control over some events, non-depressed people suggest that they have better control of things than they actually do; depressed people are able to give a more accurate estimation of their abilities.
The sickness of annual catalog of new antidepressants reaches 3 cm. If you experience the first episode of depression the possibility of a recurrence makes up 50%, in case it is the second episode the possibility of recurrence makes up 70 %, and 90% in case of third episode. Married couples where at least one of the spouses is depressed break up 10 times more often than couples where none of the partners is depressed. A number of researches in the USA showed that depression affects homosexuals more often than heterosexuals. Another research with participation of 60 thousand workers showed that people who work in the sphere of nursing, elderly and child care are exposed to depression most of all (11,3%), job holders in the sphere of public catering go next (10,3%), and doctors are in the third place (9,6%). Scientists, architects and engineers are susceptible to depression least of all (4,3%). Among the unemployed the number of the depressed makes up12,7%. Very often depression develops in family members of depressed patients. Approximately 20% of people who have depressed relatives are susceptible to depression, whereas this figure among those who have no depressed next of kin makes up just 7%. The risk of developing depression among singles and divorced people is 2-4 times higher than among family people. At the same time divorced and single men are at greater risk than divorced and single women.

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Depression statistics

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