What is Depression?
Are you looking for depression facts? But before you learn those facts, you must learn what depression is and its types and symptoms. Depression is a common but extremely serious mood disorder. It effects almost every aspect of your life like how you feel, how you think, how you behave, etc. Learn our depression facts to know more about the disorder.
Everyone feels down and sad some days. If anything bad happens to us, we may feel sad for few days but depression is totally different. It completely changes your behavior, personality, etc. The person experiencing depression contemplates of committing suicide. Learn these depression facts to help anyone suffering from depression.
There are several forms of depression. Some of them are briefly described below:
- Persistent depressive disorder: It is also known as dysthymia. It is characterised by a depressed state that lasts for more than two years.
- Postpartum depression: it is a considerably more dangerous condition than the “baby blues,” which are mild depressed and anxiety symptoms that normally disappear within two weeks of giving birth and are experienced by many women after giving birth.
- Seasonal affective disorder (SAD): It often manifests itself during the winter months, when there is less natural sunshine available.
- Psychotic depression: People who suffer from psychotic depression experience severe depression along with some sort of psychosis, such as having unsettling erroneous fixed beliefs (delusions) or hearing or seeing frightening things that others are unable to hear or see (hallucinations).
- Bipolar disorder: Though it is distinct from depression, it is included in this list because someone who has bipolar disorder experiences episodes of extraordinarily low moods that meet the criteria for major depression (referred to as “bipolar depression”) and is therefore included in this category.
Some of the symptoms of depression are as follows:
- A persistently depressed, nervous, or “empty” state of mind
- Suffering from a sense of despair or pessimism
- Irritability.
- Aches and pains, cramps, headaches, or digestive disorders that do not have a clear medical cause and/or do not improve even after therapy are considered chronic.
- Sleeping difficulties, waking up in the middle of the night, or oversleeping.
- If you’re feeling restless or having difficulty sitting still.
- Changes in appetite and/or body weight
- Low energy levels or fatigue.
- Guilt, worthlessness, and helplessness.
- Suicidal thoughts as well as attempts of committing suicide.
- Consciousness problems; difficulty remembering; difficulty in decision making
- Slowing down your movement or speech.
- Loss of interest in hobbies and other activities that you used to enjoy earlier.
The good thing about depression is it is treatable. Individual, group, couple, or family psychotherapy, may be appropriate for you, depending on your specific circumstances. While there are many other kinds of therapy treatments, the following have been shown in studies to be effective in the treatment of depression:
- Counseling in a social setting
- Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is a kind of psychotherapy that focuses on changing one’s thoughts and behaviours.
- Activation of behavioural responses
- Therapy for interpersonal skills
- Therapy that focuses on problem-solving
- Counseling on a supportive basis
- Psychiatric treatment is also known as psychodynamic treatment.
Depression Facts: 1-10
1. Even pleasant milestones, such as graduating from college, getting married, or beginning a new profession, might trigger sadness in some individuals.
2. Women are twice as likely as men to suffer from depression. Women may be at increased risk for depression in part because of estrogen, which has been shown to influence the activity of neurotransmitters that are associated with depression.
3. Men often experience depression in a different way than women, and they employ different coping mechanisms to deal with it. As one example, whereas women may be depressed, guys may become irritated. Women may want for someone to listen to them, but males may become socially isolated or aggressive or abusive.
4. In the United States, 3.2 million teenagers have had at least one severe depressive episode in their lifetime (13.3 percent of the USA’s population aged 12 to 17).
5. In any given year, more than 20 million individuals in the United States of America suffer from depression.
6. In any given year, up to 15 percent of people who suffer from some type of depression commit suicide.
7. The act of self-mutilation (such as cutting or burning) is one method in which people demonstrate that they are sad.
8. During the Medieval Period, those who were mentally sick were thought to be under the power of the devil or other bad spirits, which was considered to be a sin.
9. With his ideas of the unconscious, Sigmund Freud, who revolutionized the practice of psychiatry, proposed that sadness is caused by rage directed towards oneself.
10. Depression is one of the most debilitating disorders on the planet, with severe depression being classified in the same impairment category as terminal stage cancer.
Depression Facts: 11-20
11. In women, researchers discovered a clear link between depression and thickening of the carotid artery’ lining, which is a significant risk factor for stroke.
12. When children have asthma and depression at the same time, their asthma is often worse than that of children with asthma who don’t suffer from depression, according to research.
13. When men reach midlife, they may have a higher chance of depression as a result of the decline in testosterone levels.
14. Sufferers of depression may report more cognitive impairment on days when the sun is less visible than on days when the sun is more visible.
15. Eating seafood that is high in omega-3 fatty acids may be beneficial for pregnant women who are depressed.
16. According to Jeremy Coplan, MD and a psychiatry professor at the State University of New York (SUNY) Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn some individuals might seem happy on the outside, but on the inside, they may be suffering from depression.
17. According to the National Women’s Health Information Center, postpartum depression affects around 10% of new moms.
18. Children who are overweight or obese experience greater loneliness and anxiety than their normal-weight classmates as early as kindergarten. Both girls and boys who were sad in kindergarten continued to be sad throughout their lives.
19. Use of marijuana for an extended period of time causes alterations in dopamine production, which has been linked to the emergence of depressive symptoms in certain people.
20. People suffering from depression are five times as likely than those who are not sad to suffer from a breathing-related sleep disturbance.
Depression Facts: 21-30
21.Patients suffering from depression are more likely to develop agoraphobia, which is a dread of going out in public.
22. According to a review published in December 2019 in the journal Translational Psychiatry that evaluated studies examining the use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans to diagnose and treat major depressive disorder, few people with major depressive disorder had structural changes in the brain that can be seen in imaging tools such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans.
23. The research also says that depression is a complex biological disorder and causes structural changes in brain. MRIs alone won’t be of much help.
24. HIV/AIDS is the leading medical cause of disability. Depression will become the second most common medical cause of disability by 2030, according to the World Health Organization.
25. Many creative people, including Robert Schumann, Peter Tchaikovsky, John Lennon, Ludwig van Beethoven, Edgar Allan Poe, Georgia O’Keefe, Mark Twain, Vincent van Gogh, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, and Sylvia Plath, have struggled with depression at some point in their lives.
26. Mood changes, cognitive changes (memory and reasoning process alterations), bodily changes, and behavioral changes are all common manifestations of depression, according to the Mayo Clinic.
27. Some prescription medications, such as corticosteroids, the anti-inflammatory Interferon, bronchodilators, stimulants, sleeping and anti-anxiety pills, some blood pressure and heart medications, anticancer medicines, acne medicines, and oral contraceptives, may cause depressive symptoms.
28. Researchers discovered that depression was the most troubling and disabling factor among Parkinson’s patients, but not the physical limitations caused by the disease or the side effects of the medication.
29. Every year, business in the United States suffers an economic loss of more than $100 billion.
30. According to brain-imaging study, the elderly who suffer brain tissue damage as a result of diabetes, high blood pressure, or high cholesterol are more prone to suffer from depression than the general population. It is possible to lower the chance of developing depression in later life by maintaining a healthy weight, engaging in regular physical activity, and receiving timely and appropriate medical treatment.
Depression Facts: 31-40
31. Treatment-resistant depression is a phrase used by doctors to describe this condition. This term refers to depression that does not improve after six weeks of therapy with a medication.
32. Experts believe that genes may have a significant role in the development of treatment-resistant depression in humans. Changing or adding a drug might be beneficial in many situations.
33. In the United States, depression may affect as many as one in every 33 children and one in every eight teens. A kid or adolescent who has experienced depression has a higher than 50% likelihood of developing second episode within five years after the first occurrence.
34. Every year in the United States, it results in 490 million days of incapacity from work.
35. A depressive disorder affects about one-third of those who struggle with drug addiction.
36. Approximately one in every four Americans will suffer from depression at some time in their life.
37. Up to 50% of patients who are diagnosed with serious depression do not get better with their first therapy, according to research.
38. Researchers have recently discovered that people who suffer from depression are at greater risk of having poor bone mineral density than the general population. Women who are depressed are at a higher risk of acquiring osteoporosis than other women.
39. Depression is the most common kind of mental disease in developed market economies, such as the USA, where it has been there for decades.
40. In the United States, the National Institute of Health (NIH) estimates that more than 6 percent of children suffer from depression, with 4.9 percent of them suffering from severe depression.
Depression Facts: 41-50
41. The brains of older individuals are more susceptible to chemical abnormalities than the brains of younger individuals, making them more prone than younger individuals to suffer from depression.
42. The first mental institution in the United States was established in Williamsburg, Virginia, in 1773.
43. Patients suffering from depression account for about 80% of those who do not get therapy.
44. When depression is severe in cases, the likelihood of a genetic connection increases. Other contributing factors include child maltreatment, the death of a parent while a kid is young, and extreme stress. However, in many cases, the exact etiology remains unknown.
45. A total of almost 6 million American people suffer with bipolar disorder, also known as manic depression, on a yearly basis.
46. Many homeowners have fallen into a state of despondency as a result of the high number of foreclosures. According to some researchers, the foreclosure crisis is, as a result, a public health problem.
47. Video gamers are often 35-year-old men who are sad, overweight, and introverted in their personalities, according to research.
48. It is possible that depression will exacerbate the inflammation related with rheumatoid arthritis.
49. A woman who is depressed is more likely to give birth prematurely, raising the health risks for both the mom and the baby in the process. Between 14 and 23 percent of pregnant women suffer from a depressive condition of some kind.
50. The findings of a recent Dutch research reveal that depressive fathers have a twofold increased likelihood of having a child who screams excessively than fathers who are not sad.
Depression Facts: 51-60
51. Caregiver symptoms of depression are experienced by 58 percent of those who look after an older family or friend.
52. Experts estimate that heredity has a role in around 50% of all cases of depression. This is most likely the result of a mix of genes rather than a single gene. For those who have a parent or sibling who has depression, the risk is two to three times higher than it is for those who do not have this family history.
53. Depression may be triggered by the perimenopause (menopause transition) and the consequent lowered and variable hormone levels.
54. According to Mental Health America, about 5.5 million individuals in the USA suffer with bipolar disorder, also known as manic depression, at a given time. This disorder has a strong tendency to run in families.
55. When children are placed in institutions where they do not get enough emotional support, they may develop a kind of depression known as hospitalism (anaclitic depression). Despite the fact that they may be physically cared for, some youngsters become indifferent and withdraw from their surroundings.
56. It has been identified as the greatest cause of disability in the world, as well as a significant contribution to the global burden of illness.
57. Historically, depression was first described in medical terms by Hippocrates, known as the “Father of Medicine” in ancient Greece. Hippocrates explained sadness, also known as melancholy, as a result of an imbalance of the body’s four humors. The belief was that having too much black bile resulted in a melancholy temperament—from the Greek words melanin (black) and cholia (temperament) (bile).
58. Hippocrates suggested harmonizing bodily systems via relaxation and good living practices, as well as bloodletting and leeches, to help people overcome depression.
59. Those born in the decades after World War II are at an increased risk of having depression throughout their lives. The average age at which depression begins to manifest itself is becoming younger and younger. Today, the typical age at which depression first manifests itself is between 24-35 years of age, with a mean age of 27 years.
60. It is the most common cause for someone to commit suicide, with one person dying every 12 minutes. – an average of nearly 41,000 persons a year.
Depression Facts: 61-70
61. Globally, according to the Global Burden of Disease Study, depression is the fourth leading cause of disability and early death after heart disease and cancer.
62. After the death of Ann Rutledge, Abraham Lincoln‘s first love, he sank into a severe despair for many months. Lincoln, according to reports, suffered from persistent depression throughout his life.
63. Thyroid difficulties, stroke, cancer, heart illness, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and chronic pain are just a few of the disorders that are linked to depression.
64. In contrast, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), murder takes fewer than 16,000 lives a year.
65. Those who suffer from eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorder are more likely to suffer from depression.
66. Depressed persons have a two-fold increased total mortality risk compared to the general population, which may be attributed to both direct (such as suicide) and indirect (such as medical sickness) reasons.
67. People who are sad are more susceptible to colds than those who are not sad.
68. It is the most common cause of impairment among those aged 15 to 44.
69. According to the World Health Organization, over 300 million people suffer from depression all over the world. It is also the biggest cause of disability around the globe.
70. In any given year, it affects more than 18 million individuals (or one in every 10 people).
Sources: