Overview: Depression

Depression is a very common and serious medical condition that is not simply feeling sad more often than not. It is a mood disorder that comes with several symptoms, causing a significant impairment of daily living.

An estimated 17.3 million adults in the US had at least one depressive episode. This represents about 7% of all US adults. Although this number seems very high, the true number is likely much higher as there are many people who go unaccounted for. These individuals suffer in silence and never receive the proper treatment.

Symptoms of depression are listed below.

• Depressed mood most of the day, nearly every day.

• Markedly diminished interest or pleasure in all, or almost all, activities most of the day, nearly every day.

• Significant weight loss when not dieting or weight gain, or decrease or increase in appetite nearly every day.

• A slowing down of thought and a reduction of physical movement (observable by others, not merely subjective feelings of restlessness or being slowed down).

• Fatigue or loss of energy nearly every day.

• Feelings of worthlessness or excessive or inappropriate guilt nearly every day.

• Diminished ability to think or concentrate, or indecisiveness, nearly every day.

• Recurrent thoughts of death, recurrent suicidal ideation without a specific plan, or a suicide attempt or a specific plan for committing suicide.

Depression can be treated as a spectrum. Where one lies in that spectrum will determine the severity of illness, and guide the targeted treatment. If left untreated, depression may go on to becoming worse and worse until it becomes an emergency. To prevent further disease, depression is best treated as early as it becomes diagnosed.

Reference:

https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/major-depression.shtml