A new report released by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) finds that just under eight percent of Americans 12 years of age or older suffer from depression, and about one-third of them have sought assistance and treatment.
According to the federal agency’s “Depression in the U.S. Household Population, 2009-2012” report, depression can be found in an array of demographics, but women (9.5 percent) were likelier to be depressed than their male counterparts (5.6 percent), particularly females between the ages of 40 and 59.
Age is also a major factor when it comes to depression. The report highlighted that depression levels had gone up as individuals got older, though men and women who happened to be 60 and older had the lowest rates of depression.
Depression wasn’t ubiquitous in comparisons between races – blacks had a depression rate of just over four percent, while whites maintains just under four percent. However, those who were below the line of poverty were more than double the risk of being depressed as those who are at or above the line.
Ostensibly, 90 percent of Americans diagnosed with severe depression noted that it interfered with their home, work and social life. As their symptoms heightened then so did their health problems. Unfortunately, a little more than one-third (35 percent) with severe depression symptoms visited a mental health professional in the past year. The percentages diminished significantly for those with milder or moderate symptoms of depression.
“Not enough people are getting appropriate treatment for depression,” said Laura Pratt, study author and an epidemiologist at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), in a statement.
“People with severe depression should be getting psychotherapy. Some might need complicated medication regimens, which psychiatrists are better equipped to do, which makes it even more concerning that only 35 percent of people with severe depression have seen a mental health professional.”
The positive news, though, is that 78 percent of Americans over the age of 12 reported no symptoms of depression at all.
Simon Rego, director of psychology training at Montefiore Medical Center and Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City, told Health Day that there are a wide variety of treatments patients with depression can undergo, including cognitive behavioral therapy and interpersonal psychotherapy.
There are a number of symptoms of depression, including fatigue, weight gain/loss, difficulty sleeping, snoring, a loss of interest in activities and feelings of both hopelessness and worthlessness.
It has been reported that roughly one-quarter of suicides in the U.S. are believed to be due to major depression, misdiagnosis and undiagnosed. Also, up to 80 percent of suicide deaths are those who have suffered from major depression.
This past September, the World Health Organization (WHO) released a report in which it discovered that one suicide occurs every 40 seconds, which equates to about 800,000 deaths each year. Mental health is becoming a growing concern for every part of the world, and major national and global organizations are urging greater action to combat this worldwide issue of depression.
