Depression

Depression is a mood disorder which is accompanied by sorrow and unhappiness. Severe depression disorder can cause emotional pain or mental anguish. The disease has multiple and variable intensity, from despair to deep desperation. Contrary to what some people think, clinical depression is not the result of a weakness of character or lack of willpower. It is rather a kind of disturbance of chemical in the brain, which causes a biological disorder of mood and intellectual and physical functions. The decrease in the brain of a chemical molecule, serotonin, and perhaps also other molecules, may play an important role in developing the disorder. Regardless, severe depression treatment is important to prevent complications. It is important to note that the mechanism of depression is not accurately known until today despite ongoing research.

Depression and Your Health

The mental well-being has a crucial importance to all body functions including the entire physical health. Therefore, a severe depression disorder has a major impact on the body, and can promote the development of obesity and other diseases such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease(also called cardiovascular disease), Alzheimer's disease (AD) and certain types of cancer. According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, Depressed people are more likely to have a stroke than those who don’t, and their strokes are more likely to be fatal. It is also believed that severe depression may cause a slight increase in developing breast canceraccording to the Clinical Practice and Epidemiology in Mental Health. It is also important to note that depression is related to an increased risk of many other diseases in addition to these medical conditions mentioned above. In fact, this disease may also reduce life expectancy if left untreated. Again, a severe depression treatment is vital to prevent all these complications.

Depression Statistics

It is estimated that mental illnesses will be the second leading cause of death in 2020. An estimated 400 million of people are now suffering from mental or neurological disorders or suffering from psychosocial problems according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Clinical depression, affecting about 340 million people worldwide, is currently the fifth leading cause of death and disability worldwide, and according to Dr Benedetto Saraceno, Director of Mental Health WHO, it would reach the second place by 2020.

Nearly three million Canadians suffer from depression symptoms at certain moment during their lives. According to the Public Health Agency of Canada, about eight percent of Canadians suffer from clinical depression. Those who are most victims are mainly people aged 24 to 44 years. In the United States of America, the number is ever higher; depression affects more than 17 million people every year, regardless of age, race, or gender. In other words, 1 in 6 persons in the United States are struggling with a form of depressive disorder. More than 2 million of the 34 million Americans age 65 and older suffer from some form of depression symptoms.

Depression and Gender

Depression can affect men and women of all ages, regardless of their education, their economic or social status. But men and women are not equal in term of statistics. Women are more than twice as likely to be victims of the disorder during their lifetime. Depression affects on average one in five women, unlike men who have a statistic only ten percent – 1 out of 10 men. The problem with depression is that it is often misdiagnosed. Although treatments are effective in the vast majority of cases, there are only a small number of patients who are properly diagnosed with depression which makes treatment difficult. Receiving appropriate therapies is essential to avoid complications and reduce the risk of suicide.

Unfortunately, about two thirds of people living with depression do not receive proper care. They ignore or do not realize that they have a disease which can be treated and cured; therefore do not seek appropriate treatment. Only fifty percent of individuals diagnosed with severe depression receive treatment. Of those fifty percent, only twenty percent receive treatment according with the current practice guidelines of the American Psychiatric Association (APA).

Depression and Suicide

“Depression is a significant predictor of suicide in elderly Americans” according to the National Institute of Mental Health. About 15% of people with severe depression commit suicide; white males are being particularly vulnerable. To prevent this fatal end, it is recommended for patients to seek an appropriate depression treatment. In other words, to prevent depression-related suicide, the disease should be treated appropriately.

People with depression should live with its effects 24/7. At workplace or family, they try to hide their illness due to fear of being reprimanded, fired or stigmatized. Some Depressed individuals turn to alcohol, cigarettes or/and drugs to cure or reduce their depression symptoms. Unfortunately, these things make the situation worse or cause other major health problems. Untreated depression can last for months or even years. A person can become so inward-looking than she/he cannot even get out of bed, feeling isolated from family, friends and co-workers and refuse to get help. See severe depression treatment for more info.

References:  

1.        Clinical Practice and Epidemiology in Mental Health, December 3, 2007. 

2.        http://www.cnn.com/2011/09/20/health/depression-stroke-risk/index.html 

3.        Association canadienne pour la santé mentale : Dépression   

4.        Medscape: Depression and Suicide 

5.         Mental Health America: Depression, Depression in Older Adults 

6.        National Institute of Mental Health: “Older Adults: Depression and Suicide Fact Sheet.” Accessed August 1999. Netscape: http://www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/elderlydepsuicide.cfm 

7.        Knol MJ, Twisk JW, Beekman AT, Heine RJ, Snoek FJ, Pouwer F. Depression as a risk factor for the onset of type 2 diabetes mellitus. A meta-analysis. Diabetologia. May 2006;49(5):837-45. [Medline].  

8.        Gonzalez HM, Vega WA, Williams DR, et al. Depression care in the United States: too little for too few. Arch Gen Psychiatry. Jan 2010;67(1):37-46. [Medline]. [Full Text].