Depression Statistics

General facts.

80-90% of people who live with a serious mental illness are unemployed.
Approximately 80% of people experiencing depression are not currently receiving any treatment.
Depression is also known to weaken the immune system, making the body more susceptible to other medical illnesses.
About six million people are affected by late life depression, but only 10% ever receive treatment.
54% of people believe depression is a personal weakness.
Everyone, will at some time in their life be affected by depression.
80% of depressed people are not currently having any treatment.
By the year 2020, depression will be the 2nd most common health problem in the world.
Depression is one of the most treatable illnesses: 80-90% find relief.

Women experience depression about twice as often as men.
Over their lifetime about 12% of women will have clinical depression.
Common age group of women is 25 to 44 who suffer from depression.
One in five women can expect to develop clinical depression at some time in her life.
Only one of every three depressed women will seek professional help.
Almost 15 percent of women suffering from severe depression will commit suicide.

One in seven men will develop depression within 6 months of becoming unemployed.
Though women experience depression at double the rate of men, men are three times as likely to commit suicide than women.
Suicide is most common among men who are separated, widowed, divorced.
Men recently diagnosed with depression are at double the risk of cardiovascular problems in the next five years.
Men after retired are having highest risk of depression.

In US nearly 2.5 percent of children suffers from depression.
During childhood, boys and girls experience depression at about equal rates.
Girls entering puberty are twice as likely than boys to experience depression.
Children with depression are more likely to have a family history of depression.

Untreated depression is the number one risk for suicide among youth. Suicide is the third leading cause of death in 15 to 24 year olds and the 4th leading cause of death in 10 to 14 year olds. Young males age 15 to 24 are at highest risk for suicide, with a ratio of males to females at 7:1.
More than 90% of persons who die by suicide have a diagnosable mental illness, commonly a depressive disorder.
Approximately 4% of adolescents develop serious depression each year. Suicide is the third leading cause of death for ages 10 to 24.
Depression is the cause of over two-thirds of the 30,000 reported suicides in the U.S. each year.
For every two homicides committed in the United States, there are three suicides.
The suicide rate for older adults is more than 50% higher than the rate for the nation as a whole. Up to two-thirds of older adult suicides are attributed to untreated or misdiagnosed depression.

If you think that you might suffer from depression, consult a professional. Depression is real.