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People from all walks of life and different socioeconomic statuses can be affected by depression. Analyzing and understanding the impact reflected in the most recent depression statistics will help raise mental health awareness and reduce stigmatization.
Major Depressive Disorders Statistics
- In the previous year, 11 million adults in the U.S. had a major depressive episode that severely impaired them (National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 2017)
- Sleep disturbances affect 80% of people with major depressive disorder. (Science Direct, 2014)
- Around 80% of American older adults have at least one chronic condition, whereas 50% have two or more. (CDC, 2021)
- Less than 1% to around 5% of older Americans living in the community are depressed. (CDC, 2021)
- Depression levels rise to 11.5% among hospitalized elders and 13.5% among those who need home healthcare. (CDC, 2021)
- 4.7% of American people over 18 have regular feelings of depression (CDC, 2023)
- In January 2023, 22% of American adults experienced depression symptoms. (Statista, 2023)
- 8.4% of US adults, or 21 million, experienced at least one significant depressive episode in 2020. (NIMH, 2022)
- 64.8% of adults over 18 who had a major depressive episode (MDE) with severe impairment received treatment. (SAMSHA, 2023)
- 64% of White adults got treatment for an MDE compared to 51% of Black adults. (SAMSHA, 2023)
- Similarly, fewer Black adults (52.5%) received treatment for depression than White adults (68.6%). (SAMSHA, 2023)
- Their doctor told 18.20% of Americans that they had depression. (NHIS, 2022)
- Half of the US population doesn’t feel depressed. Among the other half, 4% are depressed daily, 6% weekly, 7.5% monthly, and the rest feel depressed a few times a year. (NHIS, 2022)
- 40 million American experience anxiety each year. (ADAA, 2022)
- 322 million people around the world live with depression. (ADAA, 2022)
Depression & Young People
- Across the world, there are twice as many deaths by suicide than to homicide (Our World in Data, 2019)
- Globally there are more deaths to suicide than to malaria, breast cancer, or war and homicide (WHO, 2019)
- 11.5%, or more than 2.7 million young people, have severe depression. (MHA, 2023)
- Young people who identify as more than one race have the highest rates of experiencing a depressive episode at 16.5%. (MHA, 2023)
- 5.73% of youth with major depression don’t receive treatment. (MHA, 2023)
- Youth of color are less likely to get treatment than others. Namely, 78% of Asian, 68% of multiracial, and 68% of Black or African American youth with depression didn’t receive any care. (MHA, 2023)
- The highest prevalence rate at 77.1% of untreated young people with depression is in South Carolina. The District of Columbia has the lowest rate at 32.6%. (MHA, 2023)
- Only 28% of young people with severe depression receive consistent treatment. (MHA, 2023)
- 14.7% attended 1-6 appointments within the last year. (MHA, 2023)
- 13% of students report experiencing one mental condition, 17.8% deal with depression and anxiety, and 6.4% have two or more mental issues. (ACHA, 2021)
Depression & the Elderly
- About 7 million people aged 65 and up are depressed (Centers for Disease Control, 2008)
- Older adults have a suicide rate that is more than 50% higher than the national average. Untreated or misdiagnosed depression is responsible for up to two-thirds of older adult suicides. (Western Michigan University, 2015)
- About 25-30%, or 20 million elderlies, reported experiencing depression and anxiety. (KFF, 2020)
- In 2021, 68.2% of adults over 50 who experienced a major depressive episode with or without severe impairment got treatment. (SAMSHA, 2023)
Women & Depression
- Depression is twice as common in women than it is in men (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2017)
- Low Bone Mass was more common in women with MDD, at 17% compared to 2% in women who did not report having MDD (National Institute of Health, 2011)
- 4 out of every 5 women have seasonal depression symptoms (Mental Health America, 2020)
- In 2022, the weekly number of visits to the emergency department among female adolescents for depression has increased compared to 2020 and 2019. (SAMSHA, 2023)
Economic Impact
- Depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide and contributes significantly to the global disease burden (World Health Organization, 2020)
- Following only family problems, mental health (depression, grief, and behavioral conduct) is the second most common workplace concern (SHRM, 2019)
- Depression costs workers in the U.S. an estimated $100 billion per year, including $44 billion in lost productivity (Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance, 2011)
Depression & Suicide
- About two-thirds of the 30,000 suicides recorded each year in the US are due to depression and lack of professional help (Gov Info, 2000)
- Patients with untreated depression have an approximately 20% higher risk for suicide (American Association of Suicidology, 2009)
- Suicide was the second major cause of mortality among depressed persons aged 10 to 34 (National Institute of Mental Health, 2018)
- Suicide was the fourth leading cause of death among people aged 35 to 54 (National Institute of Mental Health, 2018)
- Between 2001 and 2017, the overall suicide rate rose by 31%, from 10.7 to 14.0 per 100,000 in the general population (National Institute of Mental Health, 2018)
- Suicide is six times more common in people with substance abuse disorders than in people who do not use drugs or alcohol (Bibliomed, 2015)
- Depression or bipolar disorder affects 30% to 70% of those who commit suicide (Mental Health America, 2020)
- Suicidal ideation is on the rise among adults. From 2016-2017 to 2017-2018, the number of adults in the United States with severe suicidal thoughts increased by 0.15% more than the previous year’s data (Mental Health America, 2021)
- 4.84% or over 12.1 million adult Americans have thoughts of suicide. (MHA, 2023)
- 11% of those who identify as being of two or more races have suicidal thoughts. This percentage is 6% higher than the average among all adults. (MHA, 2023)
- Utah has the highest rate of adults thinking about suicide at 7.63%. On the other hand, Georgia has the lowest at 3.92%. (MHA, 2023)
Economic Impact
- 1.9 million children aged 3 to 17 years have been diagnosed with depression (Centers for Disease Control, 2018)
- Adults with depressive symptoms or disorders are 64% more likely to have coronary artery disease than the ones that don’t suffer from depression (National Institute of Health, Heart disease, and Depression, 2017)
- 14.5% or 47,511 is the number of suicides per 100,000 population (National Vital Statistics System – Mortality Data, 2019)
- Between April and September of 2020, 70% of people with mild to extreme anxiety or depression symptoms said loneliness or isolation was one of the top three factors affecting their mental health problems (Mental Health America, 2021)
- Anxiety disorders affect about 50% of all people who have been diagnosed with depression (National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 2017)
- A diagnosis of depression as a mental disorder requires symptoms to occur for two weeks or more (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 2013)
- Depression affects 4.7% of adults aged 18 and up daily (National Health Interview Survey, 2019)
- In recent years, the number of people seeking professional treatment for anxiety and depression has risen dramatically. Between January and September of 2020 315,220 people completed anxiety screening, which is a 93% increase from the previous year. 534,784 people did a depression screening, and there was a 62% improvement over the estimated number of depression screenings in 2019. (Mental Health America, 2021)
- Before the age of 75, 1 out of every 13 people in the world will have a depressive episode (National Library of Medicine, 2016)
- Mental disorders became more common among adults even before COVID-19. In 2017-2018, 19% of adults had a mental disorder. That’s a 1.5 million increase from the previous year. (Mental Health America, 2021)
- Each year, 1.5% of U.S. adults experience persistent feelings of intense sadness and hopelessness, as well as low energy and indecisiveness (National Institute of Mental Health, 2003)
- 9.3% of people seek help in a physician office with depression indicated on the medical record (National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, 2016)
Depression Co-Occurring with Other Medical Conditions
- In 33-50% of cases patients with anorexia have a co-occurring mental condition like depression (Science Direct, 2015)
- 20% of Americans that have anxiety or a mood disorder, also have an alcohol or other addiction (National Epidemiologic Survey 2001 – 2006)
- Depression affects one-third of people with diabetes (National Library of Medicine, 2014)
- About 20% of women with polycystic ovary syndrome also suffer from depression (Cambridge, 2018)
- Between 10%-20% of adults would visit their primary care physician during a depressive or anxiety disorder episode in any given 12-month span. About half of them suffer from a comorbid, depressive, or anxiety disorder. (Psycom, 2021)
- One in four cancer patients experiences clinical depression. (ACS, 2020)
- The prevalence of post-stroke depression in stroke patients is about 25 to 36%. (Frontiers, 2021)
- 20% of post-heart attack patients report feeling depressed. (AHA, 2021)
- 50% of people with Parkinson’s experience depression, whereas 40% have anxiety. (Parkinson’s Foundation, 2023)
Symptoms & Treatment for Depression
- Within 4 to 6 weeks after starting psychotherapy, attending support groups, or combining these therapies, up to 80% of people who receive treatment for depression see an improvement in their symptoms (Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance, 1998)
- Despite the high success rate of therapy, almost two out of every three people who suffer from depression do not actively pursue or receive treatment (DBSA, 1996)
- Medical non-compliance is thought to be the cause of half of all failed depression treatments. Patients quit taking their medicine too quickly because of unpleasant side effects, financial constraints, addiction concerns, and/or a temporary change in symptoms, causing them to feel that treatment is no longer required. (National Library of Medicine, 2004)
- Participating in a DBSA patient-to-patient support group increased treatment adherence by nearly 86% and decreased in-patient hospitalization. Participants in support groups are 86% more likely to get help, take drugs, and deal with side effects. (DBSA, 1999)
- In the 2017-2018 school year, 60% of youth with severe depression did not undergo mental health treatment. Over 38% of people do not receive the mental health treatment they need. (Mental Health America, 2021)
- Antidepressant medications and psychological therapy are the most popular treatment options. After six to eight weeks, 40 to 60 people out of 100 adults with moderate to extreme depression, who took antidepressants, reported improved symptoms. (National Center for Biotechnology Information, 2020)
- Although there are successful therapies for mental illnesses, between 76% and 85% of people in low- and middle-income countries do not seek help and receive treatment (World Health Organization, 2020)
- Within 1 to 2 years, about 23 out of 100 people who took an antidepressant relapsed (National Center for Biotechnology Information, 2020)
- 50% of US adults take several medications for depression, whereas 12.6% take many. (NHIS, 2022)
Conclusion
- Survey data and depression statistics help measure the community’s mental health needs, access to care, and outcomes. Providing information and knowledge about inequalities faced by people with mental illnesses is a catalyst for improvement.
Written by shorlister editorial team
Behavioral Health Access & Treatment
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