Introducing Depression Statistics

Someone once said that Depression Statistics are depressing, and in truth the statistics showing how many Americans are depressed are staggering. For instance, The National Institute of Mental Health, referred to as NIMH, has said that depression strikes approximately 17 million adults each year in America.

Unfortunately, this is much more than cancer, coronary heart disease and, even more than AIDS! Moreover, they indicate that in their estimates, 15 percent of cases of chronic depression may end in suicide. Women are said to be twice as possible as men to be chronically depressed. And 90% of suicides had a diagnosis of mental illness and it’s generally a depressive disorder.

Other depression statistics show that nearly 80-90% of all cases can be treated successfully and effectively. The information is supported by the American Psychiatric Association or called APA.

The National Depressive and Manic Depressive Association has stated that an estimated $ 43 billion per year are lost because of depression. This is mainly attributed to medical expenses, lost productivity and certainly absenteeism from the work force. Furthermore, 80-90% of people with serious mental illness are jobless.

You may want to know what is depression. There are three different types of depression, bipolar or manic depression, major depression and finally dysthymia. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has stated that major depression may affect as many as 15% of Americans at some point during their lives.

Major depression is said to come in the episodes, while dysthymia doesn’t come in the episodes at all, but rather is persistent through many years. According to the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, Depression Statistics indicate nearly 10 million American people who may have dysthymia every year.

Bipolar or manic depression is much less common, as it is reported in Depression Statistics that only approximately 6 million or 3% of Americans are affected by this kind of depression in a given year.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has reported that having a serious medical disease may cause depression as well. For example, persons who have had a heart attack, they’ll have 40% chance of feeling depressed.

Truly frightening on the topic of Depression Statistics are the great depression facts that nearly 80% of those who are now experiencing depression symptoms aren’t getting treatment. And 4% of adolescents may develop severe depression and really unfortunate is the truth that suicide is the 3rd leading cause of death for people aged 10 to 24 years. It’s also expected that depression is going to be the world’s 2nd most universal health problem by the year 2020.