health

Depression is one of the more common mood disorders in the United
States. According to the National Institutes of Health, one in every five
women and one in every eight men will have an episode of major depression
at some point in their lifetime. Depression is a major cause of time
lost from work, lost opportunities for education, and vulnerability to substance
abuse. It is a factor in 55 percent of all suicide attempts, or about
110,000 attempts annually. Depression adds to the cost of treating such
physical illnesses as diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, and cancer.
People can suffer from depression at any age; however, adults between
the ages of thirty and forty are most likely to be diagnosed withmajor depression.
There is a second but smaller peak in adults between fifty and sixty.

• Major depression is diagnosed twice as often in women as inmen; however,
  in children, boys are diagnosed with depression as often as girls.
  
• Depression appears to be less common among African Americans
  in the United States than among members of other racial groups.

Risk factors for depression in adult life include:

• Death of a parent during one’s childhood
  
• A family history of depression
  
• A history of suicide in the family
  
• Long-term use of certain medications, particularly birth control
  pills, drugs given to treat high blood pressure, and sleeping pills
  
• Long-term alcohol or drug abuse
  
• Poverty and unemployment
  
• Recent bereavement or traumatic incident