11 Facts About Depression

1. Population studies show that at any point in time 10 to 15 percent of children and adolescents have some symptoms of depression.
2. Once a young person has experienced a major depression, he or she is at risk of developing another depression within the next 5 years. This young person is also at risk for other mental health problems.
3. Between 20% and 40% of adolescents with major depression develop bipolar disorder within five years after depression onset.
4. Two-thirds of people suffering from depression do not seek necessary treatment.
5. 80% of all people with clinical depression who have received treatment significantly improve their lives.
6. Women experience depression about twice as often as men.
7. By the year 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that depression will be the number two cause of "lost years of healthy life" worldwide.
8. Major Depression is 1.5-3.0 times more common among first-degree biological relatives of those with the disorder than among the general population.
9. 15% of depressed people will commit suicide.
10. Antidepressants work for 35 to 45% of the depressed population, while more recent figures suggest as low as 30%.
11. 80% of people who see physicians are depressed.

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