Depression Statistics

Depression seems to be a growing problem in our modern world.  While there are an endless number of causes, there seem to be some correlations when you analyze depression statistics.  Looking at these sorts of numbers can help identify what sort of people are more at risk for depression than others.  Understanding these depression statistics can be an important step in both identifying and treating this tough problem.

When we look at depression statistics we realize that it seems to be a much more prevalent problem than many people would think.  Every year, there are almost 20 million people that will suffer from clinical depression.  It’s important to note that clinical depression refers to those cases that are severe enough that they can be clinically diagnosed by a mental health professional.  What this tells us is that the depression statistics may actually be lower than what we would find if we expanded the definition to include people suffering form minor depression as well.

Surprisingly, depression statistics also tell us that children are likely to suffer from this problem as well.  It seems that 1 in 33 American children will suffer from depression.  Again, these depression statistics aren’t concrete and the numbers may actually be higher if we were to take into account the number of children who aren’t treated for this problem.  These depression statistics become even more serious when we consider that the rate of growth for depression among children is 23% per year.  If there were a virus that grew at this rate we would have thousands of doctors looking for a cure.

The problem with depression is that many people will not seek help and we find this to be true in depression statistics as well.  A surprising 80% of people suffering from depression will not seek help and when we consider that 15% of sufferers will commit suicide, we see that this is a serious problem.  When we look at a few depression statistics we can see that this is a very serious problem which needs to be taken seriously.  There may not be a concrete cure for depression but we can work to increase the effectiveness of our treatment options.

Depression is a tough problem to diagnose.  The truth is that only those cases of depression which are diagnosed and reported contribute to depression statistics.  Because of this, statistical analysis can only give us a general idea of the spread of this problem.  What we find is that depression can affect anyone and will generally not discriminate in any way.  We also find that women seem to be more likely to suffer from this problem than men.  With nearly 10% of the population suffering from depression each year, however, we can see that it is still a significant problem for men.

 The problem with analyzing depression statistics in men comes from the way men will generally handle their depression.  According to a recent study of depression statistics, we find that more than half of the population believes that depression is a weakness.  This is especially true among men who will often value their strength and independence above all else.  Because of this many men will not actively seek treatment for their depression and since they often suffer in silence, this affects the depression statistics.

One thing we do find in the depression statistics is that about 15% of people who suffer from it will end up committing suicide.  This holds especially dire implications for men when we consider how unlikely they are to seek help on their own.  While it can be hard to convince men that they should seek help for something that they may refuse to admit, friends and loved ones can often help if they learn how to recognize the symptoms of depression.  Depression statistics tell us that most men will not report their problem and will simply suffer from it for years hoping it will go away so it is often up to those around him to convince him that he should seek help.

Depression statistics tell us that, while women are more likely to suffer from it than men, most men will refuse to admit they have a problem and will often never get treated.  This is an especially dangerous position as most depression won’t go away on its own.  If depression statistics have taught us anything, it’s that treating depression in men can be very difficult.