Depression Hits Nearly One in Ten Adults
According to the Centers for Disease Control, 9% of the U.S. population currently suffer from depression. A report in the Oct. 1st issue of “Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report”, 3.4% have major depression.
CDC analysts studied data from surveys among over 230,000 adults in the U.S. They found that the occurrance of major depression was highest among people between 45 and 64 years of age (4.6%) and was lowest for those 65 and older (1.6%). Young adults between 18 and 24 were found to have major depression at an occurrance rate of 2.8%.
Women were found to be more inclined to report major depression symptoms than men, while individuals with health insurance were less likely than those without health insurance to have symptoms of major depression (2.9% versus 5.9%).
Depression, regardless of degree, had a much larger impact when employment status was taken into account. 39.1% of people classified as unable to work reported current depression with 22.2% of them classified as major depression. Among individuals who were currently unemployed, 21.3% were depressed with 9.8% reporting major depression.
The study reported that the factors that cause women to report higher rates of depression are not fully understood, but that they may be related to genetic factors and hormonal differences.
They also believe that the greater rates of depression found amongst minorities might reflect mental illness risk factors including chronic disease, limited access to care, and economic and social inequality.
“Targeted efforts are needed to address racial/ethnic disparities in recognition and treatment of depression,” the CDC stated.
They also stated that the survey faced the problem of a lower number of responses than those in previous years since more households now have only cellular phones, and the fact that the institutionalized and homeless people were not included in the study.
The CDC recommended that state public health officials should continue to maintain surveillance on depression, being sure to target groups at risk and who may need medical intervention.
